The Six Paths of Rebellion
by Kamen Rider Fourze
Summary: The fight against Uchiha Obito ended up with disastrous results. Naruto, having fallen victim to Kamui, is now in a universe where one nation controls a large part of the world with an iron fist and people are stripped of their very identity, and replaced by numbers. Naruto will break the hold Britannia has on this world and ensure peace returns, at any cost. Naruto X C.C.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto or Code Geass in anyway.

* * *

_Awaken._

Naruto jerked suddenly, as his eyes blinked open slowly. The first thing he noticed was that everything was green. No…everything was _tinted_ green. He was inside a glass tank filled with some green liquid, wearing a white full body suit and a mask of some sort, probably providing him with air.

He glanced around the room and saw it was empty, with only two doors beside each other at the other end. There were no people, no tables, no chairs, nothing. The only things in this room were two tanks. One of which held him, while the other held a girl with long flowing green hair wearing the same full body suit as him. And she was looking straight into his eyes.

'_Wh-where am I?' _he thought to himself. The last thing he had remembered was personally fighting Uchiha Obito. After that, there was a flash of light, and things began getting blurry.

_You're in a Britannian research facility in the Militarized Zone of India. You fell from an opening in the sky and landed right at their feet, where you proceeded to kill more than half the scientists and researchers at this facility using some unknown power, before they finally managed to subdue you with their knightmares._

'_Was that her? Is she speaking into my mind?' _Regardless of how she was doing it, her words were bringing back memories. He remembered…Kamui! That was it. Kakashi-sensei had used his Kamui on Obito at the same time Naruto had been charging forth with his Odama Rasengan. Once they had figured out Obito had to become tangible to attack, Yamato-sensei had given his life to lure him into doing so. Rather than Obito being pulled into Kamui, he had been the one to fall victim to the ability as he tried to ram his Rasengan through the Uchiha's chest.

It must have been as the girl said. After he landed here through Kamui, his Odama Rasengan must have discharged and killed the people she mentioned. _'How long have I been here?'_

_Two weeks. I was to be sent to Area 11 a week ago, but they decided to wait and send us together. I know you have power, and I do not believe you will let them use you as a lab rat. My offer to you: form a contract with me, to make my wish come true, and I shall grant you the power of the king. Accept this contract, and while you live in the world of humans, you shall live unlike any other human. The power of the king will isolate you. If you are prepared for it…_

'_Nope. I have more than enough power, and I don't need any more. However, I will help to make your wish come true. You don't need to bribe me for my help.' _Even behind the oxygen mask, Naruto managed to give her a confident smile, one that indicated failure was not an option.

_Admirable, but a contract cannot be formed on unequal terms._

'_You're going to be stubborn on this, aren't you?' _Naruto asked, ignoring how hypocritical it was to call someone else stubborn. _'Fine, I accept your contract. And I'll make sure your wish comes true, that's a promise. And I never go back on my word dattebayo!'_

The girl allowed herself a small victorious smirk, as she proceeded to grant this boy the power of Geass. As she started the process of forming the connection, something inside the boy resonated against her, trying to prevent her from interfering. Well, she wasn't going to have that. She forced her way through, until she felt the power of Geass take hold in him.

That's when the pain hit her.

It was as if the hottest fires suddenly erupted in her body. Unrelenting, uncontrollable pain filled every fiber of her being, causing her body to writhe around wildly in her tank. After what felt like years, but was in reality only three minutes, the pain had all but left her body, save for the burning sensation in her eyes. She kept trying to force it back, and it pressed her to accept. Unwilling to continue the struggle, she relented, and felt something envelop her eyes.

Naruto, seeing the pain the girl was experiencing, turned to face the glass in front of him. His bright ocean blue eyes faded away, to be replaced by a ripple-like pattern of four rings around the pupil, with a light purple iris and sclera. The front portion of the glass tank was blasted open, the broken shards embedding themselves in the wall across the room at least five inches deep. He fell to his knees on the floor, ripping off the oxygen mask and coughing up some of the green liquid from his lungs. As soon as he felt he could, Naruto stood up and walked over to the girl's cage, smashing his fist into a small panel on the wall beside it.

The liquid inside her tank began draining to the bottom, followed by the tank itself descending to let her free. As she fell forward, Naruto moved to catch her in his arms before she hit the ground. He knelt down slowly and stared at her face worriedly, as she didn't seem to be breathing. His fears were all for naught however, as slowly she opened her eyes to gaze up at him.

With eyes bearing the Rinnegan.

* * *

"Target has been located. Enemy Sutherlands are approaching. Permission to engage?"

"I have no need for them. Deal with them as you will," the woman said, as she observed their approach on the screen. She was lounging on an elegant couch, a long wooden pipe held in her right hand. She had long golden hair that fell to the small of her back and intense turquoise eyes that projected extreme intelligence, despite currently looking bored. "Just remember, we're here for whatever they built this place for. Try to leave the facility intact until you recover it."

"Understood, Rakshata-sama!"

* * *

"H-how do you have the Rinnegan?" Naruto asked in shock. He stared down at her Rinnegan eyes, similar to his own in every way, save for one small detail. Beneath the pupil in her eyes, was a small violet symbol, almost resembling a bird in flight. It was then that he noticed he could see his own Rinnegan eyes, and he had the same marking under his pupils. "You…we're sharing vision?"

The girl stared up into the eyes of the boy holding her, noting that his eyes had been changed. While he had been in the tank, he had eyes a normal human would possess. Now, they were radically different, and not just because of the Geass either. His eyes now had rings surrounding the pupil, beneath which the Geass symbol appeared, framing it between its 'wings'. However, this was not what held her attention. As she stared up at him, so too was he staring down at her. And she could see herself through his eyes.

It was disorienting, having two fields of vision appearing before her, and caused minor dizziness for her. After a minute, she could observe both without complications, and gasped as she saw she possessed Geass in both of her now ripple-patterned eyes. How could this be? She couldn't possess Geass. It was impossible. Then it dawned on her. "My code is gone? I'm not immortal…?" she asked herself with a slowly forming smile.

"Well, that depends on your definition of immortal." Naruto stated. "A wielder of the Rinnegan is beyond life and death. I can be killed, difficult as that is, but I cannot die of age. I'm stuck at age eighteen until battle takes my life." He carefully sat her up, one arm cradling her shoulders, as the other was placed beneath her knees.

The girl hummed in thought at that information. So, according to him, she was still immortal, but no longer invulnerable. And she was neither powerless nor alone anymore. That boy had done something to blast open his tank, and she suspected she might be able to do so as well. No one would ever hurt or take advantage of her again. Now she could fight back. And here before her, was a boy who would be able to remain with her forever, if death did not take him. "I've decided. My wish is for you to remain by my side eternally. You are not allowed to die, and leave me alone once more."

Naruto initially balked at her request, but as he thought about it, found himself growing more receptive to it. He had pushed away the women who had loved him, because he wouldn't let them be with someone who would outlive them. He went into war with no attachments to anyone or anything beside his village and the people fighting beside him. He would have been able to make Nagato's vision of peace come true, but at more reasonable cost than the lives of innocents. For peace in the Elemental Countries, he would willingly walk his path alone. Now, he was apparently in a new dimension if Kakashi's Kamui had worked, unsure whether Obito had actually died, and with a girl who would be able to stay with him as long as he was alive. "I never go back on my word."

That brought a smirk to her face as she stood up with his assistance. "You can call me C.C. For now, we should work on getting out of here." As if to confirm her statement, the entire facility was shaken by a powerful explosion, dust falling from the ceiling onto their heads.

"Good plan. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I need my stuff. Do you have any idea where they might have stored my possessions when they brought me here?" He asked as another explosion, this one much closer, shook the facility.

"That door. They brought you into there first before sealing you in the tank," C.C. informed him, as she pointed at the right door. A moment later, the left door opened and an armed guard rushed in, before freezing in shock as the two test subjects had been awakened. He raised his rifle to fire, but before he could squeeze the trigger, his entire ribcage was forced through his body and out his back, blood dripping off the broken bones.

Naruto glanced to the green-haired girl beside him who was looking surprised at the result. "It works on people too?"

"Yes. That was Shinra Tensei, one of the abilities unique to the Rinnegan. I'm surprised you were able to use it to that degree on your first try, let alone use it at all since I didn't think your chakra coils were that developed." Naruto explained. A second guard ran inside and looked at the mutilated body of his comrade and started to run away, until he was forcefully pulled back into the room where Naruto's fist sunk into his stomach, knocking him out cold. "And that was Bansho Ten'in, the ability to attract forces rather than repel them."

He tossed the body aside and made his way into the room she had indicated, spotting his clothes, weapons and scrolls laid out on a long metal table. It seemed they had only gotten as far as opening his shuriken holster before they stopped.

He shed the annoying white suit and started redressing himself in his own clothes that were meant for battle. An ANBU uniform Kakashi-sensei had given him to fight in. He slid on the black combat boots and pants, followed by the skintight sleeveless shirt that came up over the lower half of his face in honor of his sensei, then the dark gray body armor, followed by the fingerless black gloves that ran up past his elbows with attached forearm guards. Finally, he tied his precious hitai-ate around his forehead. He placed his shuriken holster and equipment pouch onto his waist, and attached his kodachi onto his back.

He walked back into the room C.C. had been waiting for him, and received an admiring glance. "Very impressive. Seeing it firsthand like this definitely beats glimpsing it, as they carried your drugged unconscious body into there to strip you of it," she teased.

"And what does it say of you, having been here longer than I, suspended in that infernal tank?" Naruto countered.

Beside Naruto, a kage bunshin phased into existence who quickly donned the discarded white suit and transformed into an exact replica of C.C. As if an unspoken order was given to it, the clone walked into C.C.'s former tank, donning the oxygen mask and allowing the tank to reseal around him, as it was once more filled with the green liquid.

"You said this was a Britannian facility. I don't know what that means, as I don't know who or what Britannia is. But if they kept you here, they must need you, and they'll take my Kage Bunshin straight to them. From there, it'll summon me to its location so I can get some answers and dish out some pain for trying to experiment on me." Naruto responded to her questioning glance.

Your clone can…summon you to its location?" C.C. asked intrigued.

"It's another ability of the Rinnegan. That kage bunshin is connected to me, and I suspect you as well. It can summon anyone bearing the Rinnegan to its location. Whatever this Geass ability you gave me does, somehow I just… _know_ my Kage Bunshin is more durable now." Naruto explained. Now he had to contend with a third field of vision that was staring at the plain white walls.

C.C. nodded slowly, taking in that information as she worked on getting oriented with three different view points. "That's understandable. Once you receive the power of Geass, you'll have some instinctual knowledge on how to use it. I keep having the words Harmony and Unity flowing through my mind," she stated calmly.

"That actually helps more than you think. Harmony and Unity… oh this could be fun," Naruto said eagerly, as he darted out through the left door. As the two of them fought their way through the facility, they spotted more guards like the ones who had attacked them, fighting against other soldiers trying to free the captives who had been held here. "What do you think? Go with them?"

C.C. nodded quickly, as they quickly rounded a corner, avoiding a burst of gunfire. "Britannia has no grounds to build a facility here, as India is controlled by the Chinese Federation. Those are likely their soldiers sent to destroy this place. I would wager they're also looking for whatever this facility was built to study," she said, giving him a meaningful glance.

"I'm going to need some history lessons later it seems. Right now, we might as well go help the people trying to evacuate this place." Naruto peeked around the corner, pulling out a kunai from his equipment pouch and spun it around on his finger. He rolled out into a crouch, letting the gunfire pass harmlessly over his head, as he threw the kunai straight through the soldier's throat.

C.C. raised an eyebrow at the primitive weapon, but couldn't criticize its effectiveness, especially in Naruto's hands, as she blasted three more soldiers through a wall to her right. As she ran after Naruto, she realized she was slowing down, and her breathing was becoming heavy. Why was she so exhausted so soon? She was pressed back against the wall by Naruto's arm, as he let a soldier run past just enough for Naruto to pierce a kunai through the back of his head. "Tired? It's expected. Shinra Tensei is powerful, but very draining on your chakra reserves. You've used it about ten times, and it seems that's your limit for now. We'll have to build up those reserves of yours when we get out of here."

"Seems like I'm going to need some information from you as well," C.C. remarked as she pulled the blue-bladed kodachi from Naruto's back and held it up skillfully. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her apparent kenjutsu ability but shrugged it off. It wasn't like she had any chakra left to use anyways, so she needed something.

They continued to navigate through the veritable maze of corridors, Naruto killing Britannian guards with kunai, while C.C. ducked, dodged, and weaved between her enemies, slicing them apart mercilessly. It seemed she had a particular hatred for these men, and he frowned at what they might have done to her to deserve such brutal deaths.

Directly ahead of them was the door to the knightmare launch bay. If they were going to get out of here, it would be through there. Barreling inside, they found that almost all the knightmares had already been launched, and a few had been destroyed before they even left. However, C.C. spotted one in the far corner with a gunned down body just short of it. "Over there. That pilot didn't make it."

Naruto ran over to the massive Sutherland before him and glanced up at it. It was big, but only compared to him. The thing wasn't even half as big as Gamabunta's leg. "Do you know how to work this thing?"

"Of course. The grunts like him don't have their knightmares code-locked. That means I just need to find the…here we go." C.C. stood up from the dead soldier, spinning a key around in her hand. She walked over to the knightmare's lift and took hold of the handrail, placing a foot onto the lift. She looked over at Naruto who was still watching her with a bit of trepidation. "Oh, don't be a baby. If you've never seen anyone fight inside constructs like this, you're in for quite a show."

"At least Sasori's was human-sized," Naruto grumbled softly as he made his way onto the lift beside her, watching as it carried them up to the seat sticking out of the back. It was a tight fit, trying to get them both onto it, but in the end, C.C. ended up sitting on Naruto's lap in order for her to pilot it.

It didn't take long to convince Naruto of the knightmare's usefulness.

As soon as they launched, they were in the middle of a battlefield. Knightmare frames on both sides trying to eliminate their enemies. And there was no clear cut winner. The knightmare frames used by the Britannians at this facility had greater numbers, but the opposition seemed to have been made much better, as they were trading roughly one of theirs for every five of the enemy's forces.

C.C. smirked and started moving behind their enemy, firing the gun held in the Sutherland's right arm at their unprotected backs. By the time they realized there was an enemy behind them, they had lost nearly twenty knightmares. Try as they might, they could not hit her with anything. Gunfire bursts missed, and those odd projectiles attached to cables were all dodged, or even better, grabbed by C.C. and used to hold them still for her to fire upon.

It was partly because of her shared vision with Naruto. While she focused on taking down enemies, Naruto had barely taken his eyes off the factsphere's radar display, letting her see exactly how many more were left and where they were positioned around her. "Hmm this is fun. We're going to need our own knightmare after this, one with two seats. Unless you'd rather we keep it to one," she teased, wiggling her hips on Naruto's lap, satisfied when she heard a stifled groan.

"Just focus on the fight. And women have the nerve to call men perverts," he muttered, watching the blue symbols around them rapidly diminish until finally there were none left. Now all they had to do was hope the Indian forces wouldn't instantly fire upon them.

The dark gray knightmares in front of them leveled their weapons at them, but didn't fire. A burst of static filled the cockpit until a voice rang out clear. "Who are you? Identify yourselves!"

C.C. and Naruto glanced at each other, a silent conversation going on between them from just eye contact, trying to decide what to tell them. "We're two people this facility was used to experiment on." Naruto finally declared.

There was a long period of silence until the voice came back, much calmer this time. "Understood. We've been sent to clear out this facility and rescue any prisoners here. We'd like you to come with us to meet someone."

Before Naruto could respond, C.C. cut in and took the lead on this one. "That's fine. But in exchange, you must leave the rest of the facility intact. Things have been set into motion here that need to proceed. Don't worry. Britannia won't be pleased by it."

"I've received approval to heed your request. Please allow us to escort you away."

C.C. moved the Sutherland forward, as it was surrounded on all sides by the gray knightmare frames, and led away from the still burning research facility.

* * *

"So you two are the reason that facility was built?" asked the buxom blond Indian woman lying across from them on a couch.

"Well, built for her. They more or less… found me, and decided they'd study us together as a joint project," Naruto said, pointing at C.C.

They had been brought to an underground facility used by Rakshata Chawla and her staff, be they scientists or knightmare pilots, whose goal was the independence of India. To do that, they'd been sending weapons and equipment to Area 11, more specifically something known as the Kyoto Rokuka in exchange for a large sum of profits. The Kyoto Rokuka then distributed them out to resistance groups in their country. Rakshata's group believed that by helping Japan obtain its independence, it would do the same for India.

"And why would Britannia need to devote so much time and effort, not to mention money, studying a single girl? What makes her so special?" Rakshata asked, now sitting upright and staring at C.C. curiously.

Naruto glanced over at C.C. but found her hands clenched on her lap, looking distinctly uncomfortable and pained. He knew that look. He'd seen it many times. Shinobi who had survived long enough to die of old age, always had that look at one point or another. Being forced to bring up horrific memories of pain and death they've experienced. "They needed her utilize my abilities," Naruto lied smoothly. To C.C.'s credit, she managed to limit her shock to just a slight widening of the eyes, before her face took on a neutral expression, as if this wasn't new to her.

"Oh? Do explain that please," Rakshata all but ordered with one slender eyebrow raised.

In response, Naruto activated his Rinnegan, allowing her to see the purple rippled eyes, now bearing a Geass symbol beneath each pupil. "C.C. is the only one who could not only unlock the full limits of my eyes, but take the power on for herself." C.C. decided to assist Naruto by activating her own Rinnegan, a perfect match to Naruto's.

"Fascinating. I'm assuming then that you can activate or deactivate them at will from your demonstration. And what do they do?" Rakshata asked as she was now leaning over the table, one hand grasping Naruto's chin as she turned his head left and right, carefully examining the unique eyes he now sported.

"I'll tell you my story if you provide me with some information." C.C. observed Naruto from the corner of her eyes. She wanted to hear of Naruto's life prior to his arrival here as well, though she'd never ask herself. This was a very convenient opportunity.

"Oh and what is it you desire to know? There are, naturally, some things you won't be privy to." Rakshata made a slight wave with her hand, dismissing the armed guards from the room. As soon as she was sure they were alone, she activated the room's security lockdown.

"World history. What is Britannia? Why do people speak of them with hatred and malice? Why are countries under the control of others? I need to know how things work in this world." Naruto listed off.

If Rakshata was surprised by his lack of knowledge concerning the world's conquering empire, she didn't comment on it. She merely lost her interested look as she began to explain how Britannia had risen to power, forced their rule on more than half the world already, and were constantly trying to control the rest. She explained their policy of stripping a country and its people of their name, and replacing them with numbers. On and on she went for hours, detailing every tidbit of Britannia's ruling structure, military superiority, and their opinions of non-Britannians.

By the end of her explanation, Naruto's nails had pierced through his palm due to how tightly he was clenching his fists. This dimension…this world…sounded like one elemental country having enough power to conquer the rest. At least back in his world there was some semblance of balance, shaky though it was, between the five bigger nations. As of right now, for all intents and purposes, it seemed as if Britannia had won already. He could tell there were some things she had skipped in her explanation, but he'd heard enough to consider Britannia his enemy. But he couldn't take down a nation alone. There was no village on his side, and no other shinobi fighting with him on the battlefield. "How am I supposed to stop them alone?" he muttered under his breath.

"Have you already forgotten our contract, Naruto? You are to remain by my side eternally. That means you are _not_ fighting them alone" C.C. stated firmly.

"Even the two of you can't take Britannia down by yourselves. You'd need an army, and a damn good one too. Forgetting for a moment, that Britannia has the largest army in the world with enough knightmares to fill it, you have to consider the Knights of the Round as well. People say each member can take down a small army alone, and there are supposedly twelve of them," Rakshata cautioned them, feeling slightly amused. Many had dreams of ending Britannia's tyranny over the world, and all of them had failed miserably. But this boy…something about him made her believe, if just for a moment, that he could win. "Now, I believe you owe me a story."

Naruto glanced up at her, and nodded slowly. He wasn't sure whether she'd believe him, but he knew C.C. would, and he found that was all that mattered to him. "It all started on October 10th in my village…" From there, he told her all about the Kyuubi's attack, his father's only option, how the villagers treated him and his struggle to become a shinobi. He told her all about his friends, the invasion of Konoha, his best friend and teammate's betrayal, Akatsuki and their desire to obtain the nine biju, and finally about the 4th Shinobi War started by Obito, mentioning his goal to force 'peace' on the world and how Naruto ended up arriving in this dimension.

His tale had taken several hours, and it was well into the night when he finished. C.C. had stayed silent the whole time, but he could see anger burning just below the surface in her eyes. Rakshata had actually snapped her pipe in half sometime during his story and she was stony-faced as well. "Very well, now that I understand the situation, I believe it is in my best interests to help you. You two want to take down Britannia? Start in Japan. It should be easy to find people willing to fight back there. I've been informed they have the most active resistance groups out of all Britannia's territories."

"We'll need a knightmare then. Hmm…two actually. And Naruto needs to be taught how to pilot one." C.C. stated. Naruto glanced at her in confusion. He'd been under the assumption they only needed one knightmare with two seats, and he said as much to C.C.

"Our shared vision could be a huge advantage on the battlefield, Naruto. Two different knightmares placed properly to ensure an absolute field of vision, would allow us to devastate our enemy," C.C. explained.

"I'll see what I can come up with for your knightmares and I'll have him in the simulator tomorrow morning. Until they are completed, you two are welcome to stay here, and rooms shall be provided for you." Rakshata said as she stood up to leave, a clear dismissal.

Naruto and C.C. nodded as they stood up and made their way out of the room. They were led down the hallway by the guards and towards a single room containing very little aside from two beds and the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, Naruto turned to C.C. urgently. "Did you see it?"

She nodded affirmatively. "Britannia is transporting your Kage Bunshin out of India."

* * *

The next morning, Rakshata had decided to give Naruto only basic instruction on how to pilot a knightmare, before putting him in the simulator. Wanting to have a little fun at his expense, she gave him his test run in the Shen Hu, a knightmare frame of her own creation that no one had been able to pilot with adequate results.

Her new pipe fell to the ground as her jaw dropped in shock.

Naruto had been able to pilot the Shen Hu almost flawlessly at 96% of its power output. He was moving the agile blue frame as if it was his own body, and the simulator results showed that not a single enemy would have landed so much as a scratch on him, while he would have taken out at least thirty Sutherlands within the first ten seconds of combat. When the simulation ended, she rushed over to him and flat out offered him the Shen Hu as his personal knightmare, but he declined.

It wasn't that the Shen Hu was deficient. He loved it, and could obviously fight well inside it. But he had his own ideas and designs he and C.C. came up with the night before, that he wanted implemented. Rakshata reluctantly agreed, disappointed that one of her creations was again left without a pilot, and possibly the only one capable of using it. At Naruto's request, she led them to her factory, where she personally oversaw all knightmare production, and showed him the Sakuradite Core Luminous that would power the knightmare being built for him.

Naruto walked around the small pink cube several times, looking at it interestedly. "This thing is what powers the entire knightmare? Interesting." Naruto had an inspiration the night before. One thing he remembered from his fight with Nagato was the Asura Path, the dead body that had been converted into something comparable to Sasori's human puppet. The entire body had been filled with metal weapons and parts. Could he turn the knightmare _itself_ into _his_ Asura Path? Oh that would be fun. But how to do it? And then it came to him. The knightmare would need chakra.

Slowly, Naruto brought his hands up on either side of the Core Luminous, and closed his eyes. Rakshata made to warn him that it would be dangerous, even lethal, to touch it with his bare hands, but was silenced by C.C.'s hand over her mouth. "He knows what he's doing, so just watch." Though Rakshata could not see what Naruto was doing, C.C. could. Tendrils of glowing blue chakra left Naruto's fingertips and began entering the cube, slowly shifting its color from pink to a dark violet.

Naruto frowned, as sweat started beading his forehead. As he was filling this core with his chakra, he was able to feel the massive amount of power it already possessed. He had to interweave his chakra into this cube without destabilizing it or overpowering it. Little by little, he was _replacing_ the Sakuradite in this Core Luminous with his chakra. He had just reached the halfway mark when he began to sense a problem growing in the core. It was as if the Core Luminous refused to be transformed into a chakra core. The power inside it from the Sakuradite was growing and trying to push his chakra out to prevent any more change.

He slowed down the streams of chakra into the cube and felt it becoming calm once more. But this wouldn't be good enough. A 50-50 ratio of Sakuradite and chakra would not give him the power he needed to utilize a knightmare as his Asura Path. He pressed on, forcing his chakra into this unstable power source to reach his goal. He now realized that he couldn't eliminate the presence of Sakuradite altogether. He forced more and more chakra into the core, even as he began to feel energy from the Sakuradite entering his hands and burning them from the inside out, though his healing factor was working to mitigate the effects. As the presence of chakra began to feel complete within the Core Luminous, he suddenly halted the flow and jerked his hands away instantly. He had to lean against the wall to keep standing, but he glanced at the new power source with pride. The dark purple Core Luminous had been heavily enhanced with chakra, leaving it at a 90-10 ratio of chakra to Sakuradite, more than enough to satisfy him.

Rakshata stared in amazement as this boy managed to single-handedly alter an existing source of power into a new one. And it was reading a 5000% increase in power! So many ideas and theories, so much technological advancement had been scrapped because the power required to utilize them was absurd. She would have had to first create technology for her knightmares that could mitigate their power draw, which would unfortunately also hinder their effectiveness. But this… with this, Naruto had destroyed the limitations standing in her way. It might be a little crude, just utilizing excessive power for the upgrades she had in mind, but no one would criticize her child once they saw it in action.

She was going to make their knightmares her masterpieces.

* * *

Rakshata was as good as her word, and began production of their knightmares the very next day. C.C. had repeated Naruto's performance, creating a second chakra core which Rakshata had decided to dub Core Radiance. They hardly ever saw the woman for a while, unless she was coming up to them to ask about how their chakra worked and what kinds of things were possible while utilizing it.

This gave Naruto ample time to browse through his belongings and tally up his inventory. He had just over twenty shuriken left in his holster, and fourteen regular kunai. Alongside those, he had ten of his father's Hiraishin kunai. He'd need to find a blacksmith to create more of them, but that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. He had 100 blank tag sheets, his sealing pen and a full bottle of ink he could use to make exploding tags or barrier seals. Finally he had the sealing scroll that contained the larger one his former master, Jiraiya of the Sannin, had used to seal up everything he thought might be useful. This included scrolls of ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, fuinjutsu, kenjutsu, and a veritable library of Iryo ninjutsu and medical knowledge that he had won in a poker game against Tsunade. It also happened to include his full published works and the research notes for three more. "Well, at least those books are good for something. No matter where you go, there's sure to be perverts so these should net me some ramen money."

"What books?"

Naruto turned around to see C.C. standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. "They're the most perverted books ever written, and the author is my former master. They're almost pure smut, and I think I'll change that before having them republished."

C.C. hummed in thought as she moved to sit beside Naruto on the bed. "It would be a good idea to have a source of income that doesn't require us to go out of our way to work for it. I imagine we wouldn't have much time to do so while also trying to bring down a nation."

"Fair point. I imagine we'll have quite a bit of free time until our knightmares are finished, so I'll be teaching you to use chakra and ninjutsu. Maybe even kenjutsu as well. I'd hate for my skills to atrophy because I lacked a sparring partner."

C.C.'s eyes gleamed with faint excitement now. She had wanted to learn how to utilize the power she now possessed. "What's the first step then?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again with a snap. What should he start her on? Chakra control exercises seemed the natural way to go, but maybe teaching her Kage Bunshin no Jutsu would be better so they could start getting more done right away. No, it would be better for her to at least complete the tree, or in this case wall, walking and water walking exercises first. "You're going to learn to control your chakra. This will also help build up your reserves so you can last longer and do more with it."

C.C. frowned slightly at that, but couldn't fault the logic. She had become exhausted after using that blasting power from her eyes ten times. With that limit on her, she'd never be able to handle anything more powerful. "Fine. How do I learn to control my chakra?"

Naruto grinned and pointed out the door. "We're going to the gym."

* * *

C.C. mentally cursed the laughing blonde idiot as she picked herself up from yet another fall. It had sounded so simple when she started. Focus chakra to the feet, climb up the wall without hands. He had told her to use one of his kunai to mark her place and take a running start, but she ignored him, believing she could accomplish this on her first try.

That had led to her first fall of the day.

She'd now been at it for more than three hours, and she had barely made it halfway up the wall. A myriad of scratches adorned the formerly pristine white wall in the gym, as well as dozens of small craters where she had used too much chakra. And to add insult to injury, Naruto had informed her that most females in his old dimension mastered this on their first try.

"Naruto, what am I doing wrong?"

Naruto wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and finally calmed down enough to answer her. "You have almost as much chakra as I do C.C., so it's natural that you're having a harder time controlling it. The first time I learned this, it took me almost three days. You're using too much chakra, and you haven't once had an instant where you used too little. That makes it easier, since it's harder to use more chakra than tone down the amount you use now. Just keep at it. This isn't even the hardest exercise to master yet."

C.C. took in his words of advice and turned back to the wall, glaring at it as if it was her sworn enemy. She took her hands and formed the ram seal once more, concentrating chakra to the soles of her feet. She spun the kunai ring around on her right pointer finger and charged up the wall. She quickly passed her previous mark and made it to the ceiling before her foot cracked the wall once more. She quickly back flipped down, landing on the ground in a dignified crouch for the first time today. She turned around to hear Naruto applauding her result, which sent a warm feeling rushing through her.

Only after she had mastered the three main chakra control exercises, did Naruto feel she was ready to learn ninjutsu. So he spent the next several months teaching C.C. every ninjutsu he could, from the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, to the various elemental ninjutsu he knew, as well as the ones Jiraiya had the forethought to write down in his large scroll. Only after C.C. had learned and mastered everything else, did Naruto start instructing her on how to use the Rasengan and infuse an element into it. She also preferred wind and was still trying to replicate the effects of the Futon: Rasenshuriken with little success.

Only after Naruto was satisfied with her progress did he give her a kodachi to call her own. It used to be his second blade, but he set it aside long ago so that at least one of his hands was free to use Rasengan. Suffice to say, teaching her kenjutsu was far easier than teaching her ninjutsu, since she seemed to already have some skill with a sword. However, while her strikes had fluidity and grace to them, there was no discernible style or pattern. She was fighting with reactions and instincts, and Naruto had to beat that out of her before she could learn to really fight with kenjutsu on the level of a master.

* * *

Naruto opened the door and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to find C.C. standing outside in a white nightgown looking very disturbed. There was a look of horror and fear in her eyes that he could only say resembled the look one had when experiencing Tsukuyomi at Uchiha Itachi's hands. He quickly stepped aside and she entered wordlessly, sitting down on the edge of his bed and staring off into the distance.

He sat beside her and felt her wrap her arms around his midsection tightly. He knew what was bothering her. She was watching his kage bunshin in a Britannian research facility, somewhere in a place called Area 11, being experimented on and tortured. C.C., with her newly gained confidence and power, was afraid she could lose it all again. To have control over her own life was of the utmost importance to her, and now she was seeing what would have happened if Naruto had not arrived. Naruto, who was used to such sights, having been personal friends Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko, merely felt a sense of detached apathy to the horrific sights.

"C.C., I'll protect you with my life. I promise you this will not happen to you, and I never go back on my word."

She looked up at him, Rinnegan meeting Rinnegan, and saw only determination in his eyes. "Can I stay here tonight?"

He nodded silently and allowed her to pull him down on the bed as he brought the blankets back over the both of them. "Just close your eyes and focus only on me. Ignore everything that you see and just remember that I'm here."

She closed her eyes and held onto him tighter, and finally allowed herself to rest, comforted in the fact that not only could she fight back now, but that Naruto would be there to save her if it wasn't enough.

Every night for several weeks saw C.C. heading to Naruto's room to get a good night's rest, until finally it became something desired rather than required. She had long since past the point where she needed to be held in his arms to get a full night's rest, but the feeling was quite addictive and she would not willingly part with it.

Naruto wasn't sure what to call them. At first, they hadn't actually done anything more than hold each other while sleeping, but on impulse one morning, he had pressed his lips to hers. She had not been angry, or even irritated. She merely smiled and headed into the bathroom to shower.

And he was _sure_ she put something extra into the sway of her hips while doing so.

From there, things began to change. It started with little things, like holding hands while making their way through the complex, or a massage when the muscles had been strained by a particularly strenuous day of training. That became eating dinner alone in the mess hall after everyone else had long since gone to sleep. And then on his birthday, when she revealed to him her real name, they had finally realized what they were.

Together.

* * *

"Naruto."

Naruto held his kodachi against C.C.'s and glanced over his shoulder where Rakshata was rushing into the gym. He pulled his blade away and sheathed it over his shoulder while C.C. did the same with the sheath on her left hip. "What's the problem Rakshata-san?"

"Britannian knightmares were spotted approaching our facility this morning. They were quickly taken care of, but the pilots were aware of you two. Naturally we couldn't let them leave and report back that the one they have in Japan is a fake, so we brought them inside. I'll leave their fate up to you."

Naruto nodded gratefully. "Thanks, we'll take care of them now. How's the progress on our knightmares coming?"

"Even with the Core Radiance, progress is slow. Your knightmares _will_ be the best. I guarantee that, but finding out what we can do with chakra to make that happen is time-consuming. The engineers say that at best, it will be another two months before we begin finalizing them. _My _expectations though, and those are never wrong, say that it will be _five_ months before you'll have them ready for combat." Rakshata informed him.

Naruto sighed and nodded in understanding. "Alright. Keep us posted. And thanks for the warning about those pilots."

Rakshata nodded and walked out of the gym, heading back to the research and development lab to try and see if she could decipher the handwriting on those notes she and Cecil Croomy had passed back in forth at the Imperial Colchester Institute. She could have sworn Cecile said something about wings.

Naruto watched her walk out before turning to face C.C. "How do you want to deal with these pilots?"

"I'd like to test a theory on them."

* * *

Naruto sighed impatiently as he leaned against the wall outside the room holding the prisoners. C.C. had said nothing of this theory of hers and had been inside for almost four hours now. Rakshata was sitting on a bench beside him, typing in commands on her laptop to work out the details for some new aspect of their knightmare frames.

C.C. finally walked out of the room and motioned for Naruto to enter it now. "Dispose of the bodies please. It'll save us a lot of trouble in the long run."

Naruto, already having an idea of what was inside, nodded and headed into the room to burn the dead bodies. What he didn't expect to see however, was a set of Rinnegan in the eyes of half of the prisoners, while the other half bore the Geass insignia in one of their eyes. "How did she…?"

He shook that thought aside for later and blurred his hands through a set of five hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" He blew out a large fireball from his mouth, incinerating the bodies and leaving piles of ash on the floor.

As soon as Naruto walked back out, he headed over to C.C. and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Did you give those men the Rinnegan and Geass?"

"Of course I did. And here I was just starting to believe you might be intelligent." C.C. teased with a faint smirk on her face. "You're the one who told me that we would each create our six paths in different ways. Apparently you do so with kage bunshin, while I have to bestow the Rinnegan upon people I find worthy of becoming one of my six paths."

Naruto had discovered early on that whenever he created a kage bunshin, or the first six kage bunshin if he made a large amount, they all carried the Rinnegan. Those six would each have one of the Rinnegan's unique abilities and wouldn't dispel to anything less than a lethal hit. Further more, they had the exact same amount of chakra as him, and had his high speed regeneration as well, while any other kage bunshin still had divided chakra amounts and dispelled upon the first hit. That healing ability was the only thing keeping his last kage bunshin, held captive in Area 11 by Britannia, alive.

Though her code was gone, the fusion of Geass and Rinnegan had left C.C. in a unique situation. Even though Naruto had taught her the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, she couldn't replicate the results with her Rinnegan. It took three hours of experimentation and trial and error before C.C. found out she could bestow the Rinnegan _or_ Geass onto other living beings, but not both or a combination of the two as she and Naruto had. Any person receiving a Rinnegan from her was connected to both herself and Naruto, and could deactivate it at will, unlike the two of them who had theirs permanently active.

However, that person would only be able to utilize a single ability, whereas she and Naruto could use all seven themselves. She wasn't sure if someone who had been given the Rinnegan shared the immortality that she and Naruto possessed, but she suspected that wasn't the case. Finally, a person who had received a Geass from her could have their abilities cancelled or reversed if she so desired.

"Wait, you can _give_ people those eyes of yours? Then why not make me one of your paths?" Rakshata asked curiously.

C.C. and Naruto shared a glance that said more than real words ever could. It made sense, and this woman was building their knightmares for free already. Not to mention, having the woman who created them able to see any possible problems that might arise when they were taken out for combat could save their lives one day.

C.C. turned back to Rakshata and nodded. "Fine. I'll start with you as my first path. Just keep in mind that this will cause you unimaginable pain for the first few minutes."

The Indian scientist blinked slowly, taken aback at the bluntness of that statement for a moment. "And why is that?"

"Because you don't have a chakra circulatory system right now." Naruto cut in. "The Rinnegan needs chakra to be used, so your body will be forced to create a chakra circulatory system from scratch. And as C.C. said, that's not going to be pleasant."

Rakshata tapped the tip of her pipe against her lip in thought before she shrugged. "What's a little pain for something that promises to be highly amusing. Let's go to the med bay before we try it though."

* * *

It was, as promised, an extremely painful experience for Rakshata. However, she only screamed once before she managed to control herself and grit her teeth for the rest of it. When it was completed, Rakshata had gained the Rinnegan, and carried the ability of the Human Path, or the power to read information from a person's mind through contact, as well as extract their soul. Her vision was linked to both C.C. and Naruto, which meant she was also observing the Britannian Research Facility that Naruto's kage bunshin was being held captive in.

Thanks to Naruto's assistance in providing kage bunshin for her, she was able to practice her new-found ability by trying to read the minds of his clones. Her ultimate goal was to be able to read minds without extracting the soul unless she wanted it to happen.

Naruto was not fond of the feeling of having a soul extracted, as transmitted to him by his kage bunshin.

However Rakshata was not a genius for nothing and she finally figured out a way to circumvent the soul extraction. Simply pressing her hand to a person's head did nothing. She had to manually activate the power by channeling chakra to both her eyes and hand. When she was finished, she simply had to stop the flow of chakra to those two areas before lifting her hand up. In order to fully perfect the technique, Rakshata had been put through chakra control exercises.

And C.C. was more than happy to watch her fall over and over again.

Naruto ducked under a swing aimed at his head, as he brought his kodachi up to slice his opponent's arm off. C.C. wasn't going to let that happen however, and reversed her grip on her own blade and swung it down, meeting Naruto's with a loud clang, and trying to press forward. Try as she might, she could not press the blade lock to her advantage. However, neither could Naruto, and she felt proud that her physical regime placed her on even grounds with her love.

He broke off the sword lock so suddenly, that C.C. stumbled forward from the lack of an opposite force against her blade. Naruto took this moment to step around behind her, and place the edge of his blade against her throat. "I win again."

C.C. blew the strands of her green hair out of her eyes, and sheathed her kodachi on her waist. "The record is 51 and 49. That's probably as close as anyone will get to beating you."

"Funny. The same thing happened with my sensei and his 'eternal rival'. Come on. Let's get some breakfast and meet up with Rakshata to see our completed knightmares." Naruto said, holding out his hand to help her up.

She took his hand, using it to stand up, but did not let him go as they made their way into the mess hall. Scientists and soldiers they met along the way offered them cheerful greetings, each one having gotten to know the duo to some extent in the last nine months. By now, the people serving food had learned to have at least six bowls of piping hot ramen waiting for Naruto when he arrived, as well as a full pizza for C.C.

They had only just sat down, when Rakshata joined them at their table, smiling at them with success. Naruto sighed, denied the enjoyment of his ramen for a few minutes as he started discussing the improvements Rakshata had made. C.C. on the other hand, felt no desire to stop eating her delicious pizza, and simply let Naruto handle the discussion. After all, she had already done a favor for the intelligent Indian scientist by granting her the Rinnegan.

Finished with her meal, she waited for Naruto to thoroughly devour the bowls of ramen in front of him before allowing Rakshata to lead them to the launch bay where their personal knightmares were stored. It seemed she really wanted to play up the drama, as the lights were all off, and both towering figures were covered by a large black sheet.

C.C. stopped suddenly, and glanced at Naruto who nodded. The kage bunshin's view had changed. It was being moved inside a large circular canister that was stored inside a truck. Britannia was moving 'her' somewhere else.

"Are you two ready to see my masterpieces, my most beautiful and talented children? Those new cores you two created have made this all possible. However, I've had a few of my pilots run simulation tests in them, and not a single one got above 1% power output. I don't think anyone _but_ you two can use them." Rakshata said impressed.

Naruto nodded, having expected something like that. "We put our own chakra into them, and it runs through every part of the frame, assuming you followed our specifications to the letter. Once we're inside, they'll pretty much be our bodies. Frankly, I'm surprised those pilots got even that much."

"Nothing short of excellence is good enough to be in my employ. Now, let's start with C.C.'s knightmare, as I want to save yours for last. C.C., allow me to introduce you to…Shinryoku."

The launch bay's spotlights turned on over one of the knightmare frames as cables released the black sheet over it. Shinryoku turned out to be a large sixteen-foot knightmare with a dark forest green and black color design. The armor on its chest, arms and legs seemed both durable and ornamental, with three Factsphere Sensors in total, one on each shoulder and the third directly on the chest.

The landspinner propulsion systems were folded directly _into_ the back of the leg, rather than just resting beside or against them. The head was covered with a leaf-shaped spike that hung down slightly over the face, with the point positioned between the two narrowed eyes. Shinryoku had a total of four slash harkens, one on each side of the chest, and one on the top of each wrist.

On the underside of each wrist was an ejector port that carried Shinryoku's main weapons: Harken Fans. The large battle fans were comprised of ten flat slash harken blades all connected together by Rakshata's ingenious creation: the Section Booster. With it, C.C. would be able to launch the slash harken blades one at a time, in small groups, or all ten at once. Alternatively, the Harken Fans could be used as slashing weapons against other knightmares due to their usage of MVS technology while combined.

The palm of each hand had a circular emitter that would be used for any chakra based attacks, but Rakshata had taken it a step further and implemented radiant wave technology into it as well. Attached to the Shinryoku's left hip was a long MVS kodachi in a brilliant black and green sheath. Finally, on the back were two large green joints that were currently folded down together. Rakshata smiled proudly as she boasted about how she had managed to do what other knightmare designers had been trying to do for years. She had given knightmares flight.

C.C. was staring up at her new knightmare frame with pride until she was snapped out of her admiration by Rakshata, who handed her the key shaped like a green leaf resembling the symbol on Naruto's hitai-ate and a pair of black and green gloves.

"What are these for?" C.C. asked.

"Those are gloves I designed specifically for you two. While wearing them, you can send chakra from your own body into your knightmare, or control the flow, shape, and element of the knightmare's chakra for ninjutsu. That will eliminate the need for hand signs thankfully, so you don't need to stop moving your knightmare while attacking."

C.C. and Naruto both looked impressed at the gloves, as C.C. slipped them on. She could instantly feel her chakra flowing into and through these gloves, and knew it would be a simple matter to send that chakra into her knightmare.

"Now then Naruto, let me introduce you to my masterpiece. I proudly present to you…Seizan!" With a sweeping gesture of her hand, the second set of spotlights activated over the remaining knightmare frame, and the cables holding up the black sheet disengaged.

Seizan was a larger eighteen-foot knightmare utilizing a dark blue and black color scheme. It appeared that Seizan and Shinryoku had intended to be built as twins, with only a few differences between them. The height and color were two of the more obvious ones, but Seizan also had six slash harkens instead of four on it. There was one on each shoulder, one on each side of the chest, and one on top of each wrist.

Like Shinryoku, there was an ejector port on the underside of each wrist, though these brought out a pair of MVS daggers shaped like his father's Hiraishin kunai. A nigh indestructible cable was attached to the ring at the base of the kunai, which was powered by an internal harken booster. The kunai could be ejected or retracted near instantaneously, thrown into an enemy knightmare, or kept in Seizan's hands for melee purposes. Unfortunately, due to the sturdy, inflexible material the cable was made of, the MVS daggers could only be thrown in straight paths.

Seizan also had an energy emitter on the palm of each hand, and a pair of MVS kodachi attached to either side of the cockpit. Naruto was eager to see the combination of chakra and radiant wave energy when used in ninjutsu. Finally, like Shinryoku, Seizan had a pair of joints on the back that were currently folded down.

"So? What do you think, Naruto? Are you impressed by my brilliance?" Rakshata asked with a smirk, as she handed him his key, which was shaped like a dark blue lightning bolt and a pair of gloves which were black and blue.

"I'm astounded. They look amazing, and way more powerful than those Sutherlands Britannia used." Naruto replied, staring up at the face of his new knightmare as he slipped on his own gloves.

"Britannia doesn't provide excellent knightmares for its common soldiers. It reserves the best for the Knights of the Round, and the royal family. However, having not personally seen either of those two groups in combat, I can't say with any degree of certainty how you two would fare against them." Rakshata finished slightly worried. After having created such beautiful children, she would be furious if anyone dared ruin them in combat.

"That's the fun of battle isn't it? Pitting the best you have against your enemy and seeing who will emerge victorious." Naruto and C.C. walked over to their knightmares and started ascending via the lifts to the cockpit. Both of the knightmares utilized a motorcycle-style seat, rather than the upright position Britannia preferred for their knightmares.

As soon as Naruto inserted his key and entered in his code, he felt Seizan thrumming with power. The chakra powering this frame, via something resembling a chakra circulatory system, was coursing through him as well, by his hands grasping the controls. As the knightmare came fully online, he noticed he was seeing through another point of view, and realized that he was seeing through his knightmare's eyes as well. That was until C.C.'s knightmare came online, which added his 6th total point of view.

Rakshata swelled with pride as she saw the Rinnegan appear in the eyes of the two knightmare frames. She wasn't sure if Naruto's theory would work, but now that it had, she was hoping to personally see the carnage they would wreak. The wing joints on each knightmare unfolded to reveal a set of energy wings. Seizan had a total of six dark blue energy feathers on each wing, while Shinryoku had five dark green feathers on each wing.

Naruto was about to power down his knightmare and go celebrate with some ramen until a burst of information filled his mind. He thumbed the button to the com system and opened a channel between Seizan and Shinryoku. "C.C. my kage bunshin is about to summon you to his location. It looks like he's got some boy with him as well. Be advised, my kage bunshin suggests granting a Geass."

That brought forth a thoughtful hum from C.C. Naruto's Rinnegan kage bunshin possessed a higher level of individual thought and personality than the standard quality, and thus could come to their own decisions or conclusions that Naruto himself would reach eventually. She was inspecting the boy through her connected vision and wasn't very impressed. The boy was younger than Naruto, and appeared to be nothing more than a twig. There didn't seem to be any muscle on him at all. Why was this boy so deserving of a Geass? Oh well, it might prove amusing. Only a few moments later she felt a distant pull in her body and allowed it to take her.

What she didn't expect was for Shinryoku to be pulled along as well.

Rakshata openly gaped as she saw both her precious knightmare and C.C. vanish in a massive plume of smoke that quickly filled the launch bay. Coughing, she staggered over to the emergency hatch release and all but slammed her hand down on the button. The bay doors slid down, allowing the smoke to be drawn out of the building. As soon as the smoke was gone, she was about to reseal the door, but stopped as she figured Naruto would likely be going in the same way.

Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Three times in shock. Then a massive grin appeared on his face. "Oh if our knightmares can be summoned, we could appear anywhere on the battlefield at a moment's notice." He watched interestedly as C.C. in her knightmare appeared in some underground tunnel, with his clone and the boy behind her while a small group of soldiers was in front of her.

Wait never mind, she stepped on them.

Apparently she was disembarking from Shinryoku and walked over to the boy. Not for the first time, was he cursing the lack of sound to go along with the sight. Apparently the boy was getting pretty heated in his conversation with C.C., who merely looked bored. It seemed she had relented, for she pressed a finger against his forehead, and granted him the power of Geass. The boy was clutching his forehead in pain for at least a minute, until he stood up straight with a glowing red sigil in his left eye. It was at that moment that a Sutherland came crashing through the opposite wall, with its rifle aimed directly at the group. His kage bunshin sped through the five hand signs for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, bringing a smirk to his face.

It was time to introduce Britannia to Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Translated, _Shinryoku _means 'new green' in Japanese and refers to that first glimpse of color when spring arrives.

Translated, _Seizan _means 'blue mountain' in Japanese.

Finally done with this.

Now this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a harem story. The pairing is quite obvious, but I'm undecided if Kallen should be added in as well. I don't want her with Lelouch and I think she's someone Naruto could like as well.

The next chapter will show the other side of things, like what went on prior to C.C. being summoned, the discussion between Lelouch, the Animal Path, and C.C. as well as the battle in Shinjuku.

So please read and review and let me know of any grammar or spelling errors. Constructive criticism is appreciated, flames will be ignored, and good advice might be implemented into the story. I don't care if you think they seem overpowered this early. They'll be getting much stronger later.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto or Code Geass in anyway.

I made some changes in the last chapter to their knightmares thanks to some comments made by reviewers.

* * *

"General Bartley, we have loaded the subject onto the truck. Will you be personally delivering her to His Majesty?"

"No," the large and balding Britannian general denied. "We have lower, less important people to do that. In fact let's bring them in now. The faster we can get her delivered, the better."

"But sir!" the scientist protested. "What will we tell the drivers they're delivering?"

Bartley rubbed a hand across his chin as he considered his answer. He looked over at the now sealed capsule and snapped his fingers. "We'll call it a chemical weapon, poison gas."

"Wouldn't that negatively affect His Majesty's reputation though, having poison gas delivered to him?"

"Don't be stupid! He's not going to be seen receiving it! We're just sending it to the Viceroy's Palace where some no-name soldier will discretely take it inside. No one needs to know that His Majesty was involved in any way. Send in the drivers!" Bartley called out to the guards.

The door to the garage opened up and two people wearing large blue coats and caps walked in. The one on the right was significantly shorter than her partner, and a hint of crimson red hair could be seen peeking out from underneath her cap. The man on the left was taller than Bartley by a full head, and long black hair could be seen reaching halfway down his back. "We're here to deliver the…ah we weren't briefed on what the package was, sir."

Bartley could have sworn he heard a hint of bitter sarcasm on that sir, but passed it off as his imagination from the stress of handling this project. "It's a specially designed chemical weapon. A new type of poison gas, to be more specific, that the viceroy is considering testing on one of the slums those Elevens live in."

The woman clenched her fist tightly and made to move forward, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder from her partner. "She's just eager to get going. We don't get paid until we complete our delivery after all."

Bartley nodded in understanding. People who did their jobs solely for money were easier to keep in line. "I'll ensure you receive a bonus upon completion."

"Ah, thank you for your… kindness sir. But we really must be going." The two drivers hopped into the truck, as the cargo door was closed around the capsule. The woman glanced at the man behind the wheel and received a nod of confirmation. The 'extra equipment' had been successfully snuck inside as well. As soon as the garage doors opened, the truck bolted out relatively quickly, bringing out a chuckle from Bartley.

"They must really need that money it seems."

The door to garage banged open by a panting guard. Bartley was just about to berate the man for this, as the common guards weren't meant to be in areas that could lead to them discovering about Project R, but was stopped short by the man's statement.

"Sir, we found the two truck drivers dead outside with their uniforms missing."

"What? That means those two were imposters and they stole…get someone in the air and follow them. I'm going to inform His Majesty about this!" Bartley demanded angrily.

* * *

_"This is a video of yesterday's terrorist bombing in Osaka. Eight Britannians and fifty-one others were killed in this horrible incident."_

The news being played was completely ignored by all in the room, as the main point of interest was the chess match being played by a Britannian noble against an elderly man. Before the man could make his move, a beeping from the chess timer indicated that his time was up.

"Your time is up," said the man overseeing the match. "From here on, I'd like it to be one move every twenty seconds."

"Very well," the noble agreed, as he was casually filing down his nails with a solid gold nail file. The elderly man on the other hand, looked shocked and nervous at the new imposed time limit on his game. He knew he couldn't win this match, but his substitute wasn't here yet. And if he didn't move, the game would be lost by default. He slowly moved his hand up towards one of his pieces when the door to the room pushed open, letting in a ray of bright light and two people.

"Hm? Has your substitute arrived?" The noble asked, amused.

"I'm saved. Are things okay at school?" The man asked as he stood up from his seat to greet the two people, now revealed as students.

"What's this? Students?" The nobleman asked, arrogance shining through on his face.

The taller boy stepped into the light around the chessboard, revealing a lean elegant face that could belong to the son of any Britannian with a dignified title. The boy had smooth black hair that hung down to his neck, with a few locks framing his face. They boy's eyes were a deep purple, and shone with a vast intellect that few could match. Though the boy was tall, he was also very thin, with almost no muscle on him. "Hmph! A nobleman, huh?" he asked with scorn and derision in his voice.

The nobleman slammed down the tip of his file onto the table in irritation, as he regarded this student in a new light, as a possible challenge. "I envy the young. They have so much time on their hands. So much time for regrets… your name?"

"Lelouch Lamperouge."

"Woah! Woah! You can't win this no matter what you do, right?" The other boy asked as he inspected the board position.

"Rivalz, in how many minutes should we leave here in order to make our next class?" Lelouch asked the boy with blue hair still wearing his motorcycle helmet and goggles.

"Um, if we really haul ass, about twenty minutes." Rivalz answered after thinking about the shortest possible route back to Ashford Academy.

"In that case, I'll ask you to drive safely on the way back." Lelouch stated confidently. "I'll need nine minutes. Owner, about yesterday's matter…"

"Understood. We'll discuss it," the elderly man said.

"Nine minutes? You have twenty seconds per move." The nobleman said doubtfully.

Lelouch calmly picked up the king and stared the nobleman straight into the eyes. "More than enough."

This brought a look of confusion on his opponent's face. "Hm? You're starting with the king?" Such a ridiculous and unheard of action caused the nobleman to laugh uproariously, as Lelouch simply smiled and moved the black king into position.

* * *

"Damn it! After we finally steal this thing! It's all because Tamaki couldn't stick to Naoto's plan and left the bodies right in front of the facility!" The truck driver said, as he changed routes once more to try and avoid those damned gunships.

* * *

"I love playing nobles! Their pride ensures they pay what they owe you. Besides that, eight minutes, thirty-two seconds is a new record!" Rivalz exclaimed cheerfully as they walked out of the building with a wad of bills being stuffed into his wallet.

"He didn't have much time either," Lelouch stated. "Besides, nobility make such tepid opponents. Their privileged lives just make them parasites."

"So why not try one of the Elevens?" Rivalz asked his friend curiously. "They're not like us Britannians." He was stopped however, when he heard people around him muttering about some incident. As he turned around, he saw a large screen showing the results of the terrorist bombing until it was replaced with a picture of the Britannian flag.

_"Forgive the delay. It's now time for an address by His Royal Highness Prince Clovis, third prince of the Britannian Empire."_ A female announcer declared.

The image of the flag faded away to be replaced by one of the emperor's children, and the viceroy of Area 11, Clovis La Britannia.

_"To my imperial subjects!"_ Lelouch narrowed his eyes in hatred and disgust.

_"And of course to the many Elevens who cooperate with us!"_

The woman in the stolen Britannian truck narrowed her eyes at the racist term forced upon her people. "We're not Elevens, we're Japanese!"

_"Do you not see? Right now my heart is torn in half! Into a heart filled with sadness and a heart filled with rage! However, as ruler of Area 11, I will not allow terrorism of any kind! The reason being that the battle we fight is a righteous one! A righteous battle to protect the happiness of all! Now then, everyone! Won't you join me in grieving for the eight who died in the line of duty for justice?"_

_"And now a moment of silence."_

"Oh? Not gonna join in?" Rivalz asked Lelouch who was currently paying the meter that kept Rivalz's biked locked in their parking space.

"Will you?" Lelouch countered.

Rivalz chuckled slightly and got onto his bike. "I'd be embarrassed," the boy dismissed.

"Exactly," Lelouch agreed. "Besides, our crying for them won't bring the dead back to life. In the end, it's all just self-satisfaction. No matter how hard you may try, there's no way you can ever change the world."

* * *

Clovis finally allowed himself to relax upon receiving confirmation that the cameras had shut off.

"You were wonderful, Your Highness! One would never guess you were just enjoying yourself at a party!" A beautiful woman praised.

"The viceroy is the face of Area 11." Clovis responded as two men came to his sides and started removing the cloak he wore for official purposes. "You need to be able to switch roles quickly."

"My, such self-confidence you have!" Another woman said flirtatiously.

"I'm prepared," he corrected her. "Self-confidence? I'm just trying to please the media people." He glanced over to the left wall where several prominent news reporters were standing to accentuate his point.

"Oh no, no! We're pleased to be of any assistance in your reign, Prince Clovis!" The head journalist denied.

Leaning against the wall by the exit, was a tall man with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail, save the portion hanging down over the left side of his face. "A sham of a reign." He muttered. Just then, a rather fat soldier came rushing in through the door, heading towards the viceroy with a sense of urgency. "A soldier?" he muttered.

"How boorish of you," Clovis chastised the general running up to him in the middle of the party. Did this man not understand that events like this were critical to gain supporters?

"I beg your pardon Your Highness, but…"

"Another special? I hope the subject matter will be better." The blond man said as he started to exit until he heard the viceroy berate the soldier, and quite angrily too. Perhaps this might be something quite interesting after all.

"Th-The police have been told it's just medical equipment." General Bartley explained nervously. "If we scramble our entire army, there'll be records…"

"Send out my personal forces! Knightmares as well!" Clovis ordered.

* * *

"That first move you made…why'd you start with the king?" Rivalz finally asked. That one move had been stuck in his mind ever since they left. He'd never seen anyone do it before, and Lelouch had actually lost his rook in the process. Still, to pull out victory with the king, two knights and a pawn was amazing.

"If the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" Lelouch asked in response.

"About that…" Rivalz trailed off.

"What?" Lelouch asked.

"Do you want to run a corporation or something?" Rivalz asked bluntly.

"No way. Weird dreams like that will ruin your life…" Lelouch was interrupted by a loud honking behind him, and turned around to see a large truck trying to get past them.

"Woah! What the hell?" Rivalz exclaimed, as he started speeding up to avoid getting rammed by that monster of a vehicle.

"People just driving along, not a care in the world!" The man inside the truck cursed as he turned the wheel to the left sharply.

"Stop! Not that way!" The girl beside him yelled, but it was too late as the truck rammed through a road block and crashed into a construction zone, kicking up dirt everywhere.

Rivalz, thankful to have a few moments to catch his breath, stopped the motorcycle and glanced over to the left, trying to spot the truck through the thick cloud. "Um…was that our fault?"

"I doubt it…" Lelouch answered back. He hopped out of the sidecar and glanced over the railing at the crashed truck, expecting to see someone injured coming out of it. What he saw instead were bright blue wisps of some kind of energy leaking out of the hole in the truck's trailer.

"Hey, Lelouch! It looks like our energy line's been cut." Rivalz called out to his friend.

"Right… say, what's that?" Lelouch asked more to himself than to Rivalz. He was distracted from the truck by the loud mutterings of Britannians rushing over to stare at it like some sort of free show.

"What, was there some kind of accident?"

"Probably a drunk driver."

"Idiot!"

"Hey, maybe someone should go help them."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes as he stared at these pathetic people. _'All these fools!'_ Not one of them deserved the life they had. After having lived in Area 11 for so long, constantly looking down on the Elevens, no the Japanese he corrected himself, he highly doubted even one of them remembered how to help someone else out with no thought of good publicity or reward. He tossed his helmet into the sidecar and started running down to the truck, hoping to find someone still alive inside it. He'd also want to find out what that blue energy leaking out was.

"Look! The student rescue team has arrived!"

"Could someone call the police or something" A woman taking pictures with her cell phone asked the crowd.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Lelouch called out to the people inside the truck. Though a large metal beam had fallen and blocked his path to the doors, he could see two people inside the truck through the windows. Acknowledging that trying to move the beam was futile, he turned around and started climbing up the ladder on the trailer instead.

"Nagata? Nagata!" The woman called out to her unconscious partner just as the airbags finally deflated. The man known as Nagata merely groaned in pain as a reply.

"Hey! Can you hear me in there?" Lelouch called out to the people driving the truck from on top of the trailer. He looked down through the opening in the trailer and saw a large capsule inside with that same blue energy shining through the cracks on top of it. Likely, it was meant to be opened from the top into four different pieces as he counted the separate sections out. Suddenly the truck sped out in reverse, sending him falling into the truck, where he managed to keep himself upright by bracing against the capsule.

* * *

The truck rushed past the rest of the construction zone and back onto the highway, where it was quickly spotted and pursued by Britannian VTOL Gunships. "Warning! Surrender now and you still have a chance to defend yourself in court! Surrender at once!" Despite saying so, the lead gunship lowered its ventral-mounted machine gun and fired rounds at the truck, forcing it to swerve erratically.

"The next rounds will hit you! Surrender at once!"

"They've called out the army! Now what?" Nagata asked his partner desperately.

"That's why I'm here, isn't it?" She asked, pulling off her cap and revealing a head of dark crimson red hair and deep blue eyes.

* * *

Lelouch had only managed to keep himself stable by standing atop a portion of the capsule itself and wrapping his arms around a large black tube jutting out from it. "It's dangerous to get out. Sounds like there's trouble out there," Lelouch muttered quietly to himself. "Maybe I can use my cell phone…" A sudden hissing sound caught his attention, and he hid himself further behind the capsule as a woman came walking out, shedding her blue jacket to reveal a brown sleeveless vest over a red turtleneck sweater also missing its sleeves, and a pair of matching brown shorts.

"Can you enter the subway via the Azabu route?" She asked someone, presumably the man still driving the truck.

"Kallen! Let's use it here!" A voice called out to her.

"That'd mean a slaughter!" She yelled back angrily, as she climbed up a small ladder into some kind of machine in front of the capsule.

"Yeah, you're right," the voice conceded.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes as he stared at that woman, before glancing to her coat and spotted a discarded, or more likely forgotten, handheld transceiver.

* * *

_"The target's moving from the settlement area to the ghetto."_

_"Right! Corner them!"_

"Understood!" The lead gunship lowered its main gun once more to fire upon the truck, but was suddenly impaled straight through by a weapon attached to a long cable.

"A slash harken?" The next pilot exclaimed in surprise. The door to the back of the truck opened up to reveal a dark red Glasgow model knightmare, which was already retracting the slash harken back into the right side of its chest.

"A knightmare!"

The dark red knightmare charged out from the back of the truck and onto the road, deploying its landspinners to keep moving. "You guys know full well how powerful this thing is!" Kallen declared furiously as she skillfully maneuvered her Glasgow across the highway, dodging machine gun fire from the gunship as she sent one of her slash harkens straight into the cockpit, destroying it completely.

"The rest of you, back off. I'll take this guy." A voice projected out through speakers. It came from within the knightmare being airlifted over the highway by a knightmare VTOL. "I don't know where you got that thing, but an old Glasgow will never be able to stop this Sutherland!" The dropship quickly released the purple and red knightmare, which fired off its own slash harken to deflect the oncoming one from the Glasgow, as it activated its landspinners and started charging forward.

"Much less a damned Eleven who can't appreciate our Emperor's affection!" The Sutherland fired off a round from its assault rifle into the left shoulder of the red Glasgow before it.

"Kallen, we need to split up! We can't both get killed! Run for it!" Nagata called out to Kallen over the transceiver he held in a vice-like grip.

"But!"

Any further reply Nagata might have made was cut off as another Sutherland rose up from the side of the highway and landed directly in his path. It fired off a few warning shots, one of which pierced the windshield and right through his left shoulder, causing him to swerve a sharp left into the subway tunnels to avoid crashing into it completely.

Kallen tried to fire off her left slash harken, but a repeated whirring sound informed her that was now impossible. "What's wrong? Damn it!"

"Secondhand junk!" The Sutherland raised its stun tonfa to smash into the Glasgow, until Kallen desperately ejected the entire left arm into the Sutherland, creating an explosion of smoke. She used the distraction to escape into the subway tunnels and hopefully regroup with Ohgi and the others.

Jeremiah Gottwald smirked in amusement at the Glasgow's desperate ploy. "Oh ho! I like your spirit. However…"

* * *

Lelouch clicked his tongue in annoyance as the light radiating out from his cell phone showed him zero bars. _'I'm outside my cell phone's range. This darkness and the road surface… we must be speeding along the old subway lines. They're headed for a ghetto somewhere. Exiting will be dangerous. Still… okay I've got it. The conditions are clear. I may not like army protection much, but if I give them a terrorist communicator…'_

Lelouch was snapped out of his thoughts as the truck jerked forward so suddenly that he was thrown around inside the trailer. "An accident? Unless it was Britannian forces…"

Try as he might, Nagata could not push the truck further, as the front wheels were now in the empty space separating the track. "N-No good… Please, Ohgi… find me!" He weakly flipped a switch beneath the dashboard, opening up the side of the trailer.

A soldier hidden in the tunnel glanced over at the truck ahead of him as it opened up its compartment. When he zoomed in and spotted the large metal canister, he clicked into his com three times, the three bursts of static being the code for target located. That was until he spotted someone else examining the canister. Without hesitation, he ran in and delivered a powerful spinning kick, which the man before him only just managed to block with his forearms.

"A… A Britannian," Lelouch muttered as the soldier gripped the front of his uniform and pinned him to the ground.

"Enough with the killing!" The soldier said as he disengaged his gas mask, letting it hang down below his chin. "I can't believe you people would use poison gas!"

"I'm telling you!" Lelouch finally screamed out, as he kicked his right leg out at the soldier atop him, only for said soldier to leap back himself, landing at the opposite end of the trainer. "If there's any poison gas here, it was Britannia that made it, right? You don't want any more deaths? Then obliterate Britannia!"

"Lelouch?" The soldier asked as he removed his helmet, revealing a head of messy brown hair and emerald green eyes. "It's me, Suzaku."

Lelouch blinked in shock as the Japanese boy he had befriended as a child was now standing before him in military garb. "You became a Britannian soldier?"

"And you?" Suzaku countered. "Don't tell me you're…!"

"What are you saying?" Lelouch asked. Suddenly the capsule between them started hissing, as the locks keeping it sealed were being disengaged. Before he could utter a word of surprise, Lelouch was tackled to the ground with a gas mask being pressed onto his face by Suzaku.

Just as he'd predicted earlier, the canister split open into four pieces, revealing it had not actually contained poison gas as everyone had believed. Inside was a large amount of green liquid and a girl with long green hair, wearing some sort of white suit that bound her arms and legs together. As her eyes made contact with Lelouch's they briefly flashed purple with some sort of design in them, but faded before he could get a definitive look.

"It's not poison gas?" Suzaku asked confusedly, staring at the girl that emerged from the canister.

Lelouch stood up and walked over to the girl, pulling her up and leaning her against his chest. "Answer me, Suzaku. Poison gas? This girl?"

"But that's what we were told in the briefing." Suzaku explained as he unzipped the portion of the suit that was keeping her legs held together. Suddenly a spotlight flashed on behind them, causing them both to turn around.

"Damn monkey!"

There standing behind them was the entire royal guard. "Even an honorary Britannian doesn't have the authority to do what you've done!" The commander berated.

"But I was told this was poison gas!" Suzaku protested as he ran over to them.

"You have no right to protest!"

'_We're in trouble. This is definitely poison. A deadly poison that will endanger Suzaku's masters if it gets out.' _Lelouch concluded as he watched the exchange between Suzaku and the commander.

"However, in reward for your great achievements, I'll be merciful." The commander said, pulling out a standard military pistol from within his jacket. "Private Kururugi, use this to execute the terrorist."

"He's not a terrorist! He's a civilian who got caught up in all this!" Suzaku protested.

"You little! That's an order! Didn't you swear loyalty to Britannia?"

"But… I can't. I won't do it. I won't shoot a civilian. Not him." Suzaku declared firmly, turning around to smile at Lelouch, his brother in all but blood.

"Then die." Suzaku turned his head, but couldn't stop the bullet fired into his side by the commander. The last thing he heard as everything around him was fading into darkness was Lelouch calling out his name.

"You look like a Britannian student, but it's just not your day," The commander said unapologetically. "After you've retaken the girl, kill the student!"

"Yes, my lord!" The other soldiers replied.

Nagata, lying across the bench seat in the truck, losing himself to blood loss rapidly, scowled as he heard Britannians right outside. "God damned… Britannians…" He moved his right arm over to a small black box, which he pulled down to reveal a silver button. "Long live… Japan." Nagata pushed the button, and his world went up in flames.

* * *

"They got away? You call yourselves the royal guard?" Bartley yelled into the com scornfully.

"Forgive me, my lord. The blast was mainly directed upwards, but the bedrock…"

"Do you understand why I only told you people about this?" Bartley demanded, his face developing a fiery red hue, as his fists clenched tightly on the digital map table.

"W-We'll continue the investigation," the commander responded dutifully before cutting off the link.

"The plan has moved to the next phase," Clovis said from his throne behind General Bartley and his other advisers.

"But, Your Highness!"

"If knowledge of this gets out, I'll be disinherited." Clovis said, cutting Bartley off. "Tell them back home we're carrying out a planned urban renewal. As Clovis, third prince of the empire, I order you! Destroy the Shinjuku ghetto!"

The G1 base launched all available Sutherlands into the ghetto, their pilots moving through the area quickly and decisively, eliminating every man, woman, and child they found. Soldiers were dropped in to deal with the Elevens hiding inside buildings that the knightmares might not be able to accurately deal with, while gunships and tanks were used to herd people running away back into the line of fire.

"Supervisor Jeremiah, General Bartley wants you to take command of area 2…"

"He's got staff officers, right?" Jeremiah interrupted the man speaking to him over the comlink. "It's been ages since I've had this much fun on the front lines!" He punctuated his statement whist a burst of fire from his Sutherland's machine gun into a group of Elevens hiding behind the rubble from a destroyed building.

* * *

Lelouch and the girl he had found ran down the subway tunnel as explosions outside shook the walls around them. Lelouch suddenly stopped and glared at girl before him angrily. "What the hell are you? This chaos is all your fault, isn't it? But besides that, Britannia has…they even killed Suzaku!"

"You are Britannian, yet you seem to hate them with a passion. Why is that?"

Lelouch looked up, startled that the formerly silent person beside him had finally spoken up. "They are a cancer on this world, slowly destroying it country by country. You see how they invade, conquer, and rewrite the country and its people to suit their needs! They kill indiscriminately, and breed racism as showing loyalty. Britannia needs to be destroyed, or true peace will never be obtainable!"

"And you believe you could do this? You believe you will be the one to end their reign and bring about an age of peace?" the girl pressed on urgently, as if desperate to hear his answer.

Lelouch didn't even need a second to contemplate that. "If I had the power to end Britannia, I would be the one to destroy them."

"And if you could be granted such a power, you would accept it under the terms of a contract?"

Lelouch would have normally said no right then and there. Things like contracts enforced restrictions and obligations upon a person they were bound to until freed from it. However, to be given the power to make a difference, to bring about change to the current world, was not something he'd pass up. "I would accept your contract."

"Excellent." This time, Lelouch was definitely not seeing things. The girl's eyes flashed to purple and he now noticed it had several rings moving out from the pupil. An exact duplicate formed beside her, save for the fact that this one had the girl's normal yellow eyes. "Boss, I wish to summon forth C.C. here, to Area 11. This boy… he's different. I see in him, what people saw in us. He would be worthy of receiving a Geass." With her message received, the clone dispersed itself in a cloud of smoke, startling Lelouch.

'_How did she do that? That second girl literally appeared out of nowhere, as if rising from the shadows. Then the message… it wasn't meant for that duplicate, but for someone else. Somehow this girl used her duplicate as a way to transmit the message across a great distance, considering she had to specifically mention Area 11. She said something about summoning… could she bring in another person like she did with that duplicate? The possibilities with such a power are limitless!'_

"Come, we have to keep moving. This tunnel could collapse from damage thanks to those knightmares, and we don't want to be here when or if it happens."

Lelouch nodded wordlessly, silently contemplating the mysterious girl before him as they made their way out of the subway tunnel. They came upon a set of stairs leading up, and started crawling up them slowly to avoid being seen. "Okay… wait here." Moving at a snail's pace to avoid making a sound, Lelouch moved up the stairs just enough to peek around the corner, where he spotted the royal guard waiting and gunning down any Japanese running inside here to hide.

"Well?" The commander asked as he entered after his soldiers.

"Only looks like Elevens here, sir," one of them answered respectfully.

"Hm." Try as he might, the commander couldn't make anything out in the darkness of the warehouse. "You're sure? The exit comes out here?"

"Yes, sir. It matches up with our map of the old city."

Lelouch was about to turn back around and try to find another exit until he heard the crying of a baby. His eyes widened in shock. Surely they wouldn't kill a baby. But the sound of gunfire a moment later answered that question for him.

Just as it seemed the soldiers might be leaving, his phone rang out from his pocket. He snapped his hand down and instantly hung up on the caller but it was too late. The soldiers rushed over and hauled both him and the girl out, throwing him against the wall even as they kept her back.

"An appropriate location for a terrorist to meet his end, isn't it?" The commander asked the boy mockingly.

"You people!" Lelouch uttered through gritted teeth.

"Still, you did well for a student. As expected of a Britannian! However, your future ends right here." The commander raised the same pistol he had killed Suzaku with and leveled it straight at the boy's heart.

"Like I'll let you!" The girl ran through the guards, her hands moving several intricate motions, before she slammed the palm of her right hand on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Just as the gun was fired, a large cloud of smoke appeared between Lelouch and the soldiers, the bullet impacting against something in the smoke that made a loud clang sound. As the smoke finally started to dissipate, it revealed a massive black and green knightmare standing in front of the soldiers, with the same purple ringed eyes the girl had displayed.

Lelouch took a step back as he stared up at this knightmare. _'It's no Sutherland. It looks far too advanced, and if Britannia had something like this, they wouldn't hesitate to use it. That girl said Kuchiyose… summoning? She actually summoned this thing here? But the expression on her face implies she didn't expect this result either. That means she likely only intended to bring the pilot inside that knightmare here.'_

The massive knightmare looked around until it spotted the soldiers below it. If Lelouch had to put a word to it, he would have said the knightmare was looking almost amused at the sight of them, as it _literally_ walked all over them. As soon as they were dead, the knightmare shut down, and the back hatch opened up, releasing the pilot. It was a girl, another exact copy of the girl beside him. She took the lift down and walked over to him, inspecting him as if looking for something specific. "What's so special about you? Why was I told you are deserving of a Geass?" She asked in boredom.

Lelouch glanced at the person standing to his right, hoping the original would answer some questions, but where the girl once was, now stood a blond haired man in some kind of old-looking armor. The man remained silent, but his dark purple eyes bore into Lelouch's and he realized he'd have to convince this girl himself. "I want to crush Britannia."

"Lots of people want to do that," she said dismissively. "Why you specifically?"

Lelouch clenched his hands tightly as he thought of his sister, that night his mother had died, and being sent here as political prisoners by his father. "Because I know better than anyone else the type of filth Britannia creates. The people who are led to believe they are superior by right of birth. They kill and oppress endlessly, unsatisfied until there is no opposition to their rule. They keep the weak down and only give power to those who would abuse it. The world is dying, and the cause is Britannia! I can do it. I can bring about Britannia's destruction! I just need the power to help me."

C.C. made a show of thinking about it, even though she had already decided. "Alright, I've decided. I'll grant you the power of Geass and see what you make of it. In exchange, you will form a contract with me, and fulfill a wish of mine to be determined at a later date. At the very least, it will be amusing for me to watch." She reached up with her right hand and pressed two fingers against Lelouch's forehead, a glowing red Geass symbol appearing briefly before it faded away.

The effect was instantaneous, as Lelouch hissed in pain and grabbed his left eye. It felt as if something was searing itself onto his pupil and his screams echoed in the empty warehouse. As the pain slowly dwindled away, Lelouch was left sweating and panting as if he had just run a marathon. As soon as he felt he could, he stood up and dropped his hand away, revealing the red bird-like sigil beneath his left pupil. Two words repeated themselves in his mind. Absolute. Order.

A loud explosion blasted through the warehouse door, as a Sutherland smashed its way inside. C.C. took the opportunity created by the convenient smokescreen that pilot had unwittingly created, and got back inside Shinryoku. Naruto's kage bunshin quickly ran through the same set of hand signs while the cover of smoke was still up.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Villetta Nu activated her Factsphere, trying to get a visual on the warehouse she had just blasted into. If she knew her Sutherland was going to create this much smoke, she would have ripped the entrance open with her knightmare's hands instead of using her rifle. She moved forward cautiously as the smoke was clearing out through the many holes in the roof, but stopped suddenly at what her Factsphere now revealed to her.

There on the ground was the entire royal guard, all dead. In front of them was a Britannian student and two of the most elegant and powerful knightmares she'd ever seen. Were these new experimental models? Why were they here with this student in the ghetto of all places?

She quickly clicked on her knightmare's external speakers, but made a show of having her knightmare lower its rifle. She didn't think she'd survive a fight against those two. "What happened? What's a Britannian student doing here? Answer me, or else I'll…!"

Lelouch scoffed at her implied threat. "Come out of there. At once!" Lelouch ordered, bringing the Geass symbol up in his left eye.

Villetta narrowed her eyes, and wanted to fire a few warning shots to scare this boy, but one glance at the two knightmares by his side was enough to remind her why this would be stupid. "Who do you think you are?"

Lelouch deactivated his Geass as he came to a realization. _'I see. It doesn't work unless she sees it directly.'_ "My name is Alan Spacer. My father is a duke, and ordered his personal knightmare guards to protect me. My I.D. card's in my breast pocket. After you confirm my identity, I ask for your escort out of the ghetto. These two would be too busy eliminating any terrorists that might bring harm to me."

"A duke!" Villetta muttered in surprise. And one with enough money and influence to have custom knightmares built just for his protection. Not to mention ordering them away to protect his son so easily. That kind of power could be just the thing she needed to fast track her to a baroness title. The duke would happily do so if she 'selflessly protected a young innocent student from terrorists in the ghetto'. That had a nice ring to it. She shut down her Sutherland and pulled out the key as her seat slid out the back. She pulled out her sidearm and held it loosely by her side as she descended down to the ground. No need to have the boy report to his father that she threatened him. "Just wait there. I'll take out your I.D."

"Now hand over your knightmare to me." Lelouch ordered, catching her eyes with his as he instantly activated his Geass. A second later, he spotted a red ring around her eyes, a sign that his command had taken hold in her mind.

"Understood. Its number is XG2-IG2D4." She said as she tossed over the key to him.

"Very well." Catching the key, Lelouch walked straight past the woman and climbed into her Sutherland, as the large knightmares behind him followed his path. The blue and black knightmare that had also been summoned towered over his Sutherland drastically, but was only just taller than the green and black knightmare that had saved him. "Will you two be helping me obtain my goals?"

A burst of static filled his new cockpit as they tried to find his com channel. "Our goal is the end of Britannia. So long as you aim to do that, we'll be fighting with you. My knightmare is Seizan, and hers is Shinryoku. By the way, that's a very interesting ability your Geass manifested into." That male voice must have belonged to the man who had summoned the other here. Apparently he had not only the ability to summon his partner and his knightmare, but also to disguise himself perfectly as her. Reminding himself to ponder the usefulness of those abilities later, he moved out into the ghetto using the buildings as cover to avoid being spotted by other Britannian forces.

* * *

Villetta blinked slowly, unaware that a red glow had just left her eyes. She was standing alone in a warehouse, and her Sutherland was missing. Hadn't there also been someone else here? "I…What did I?"

* * *

"Having a bad day, are we?"

Suzaku blinked his eyes open and was met with a bright white light above him. For a moment, he thought he was dead, but then a flash of pain hit his side and he realized he was still alive.

"Lost your chance to go to heaven, Private Kururugi?" Suzaku glanced at the person who asked him this question and saw a man with light blue hair and glasses smiling amusedly at him. Standing beside the man was a woman in a dark orange coat with dark purple hair, holding something wrapped in a small cloth.

"Um…Where?" He asked, trying to sit up, but the pain his side wouldn't allow it.

"Hm? Ah. Still in the Shinjuku ghetto."

"With Prince Clovis near, it's probably the safest place there is. This is what protected you, Mr. Suzaku." The woman said, holding out a broken pocket watch to him.

"It deflected the bullet from inside your protective suit." The man explained to Suzaku who took the watch from her. This was his father's watch. The one he'd taken for himself when he was ten.

"Is it valuable?"

"Y-Yeah…" Suzaku answered her quietly.

"Elevens say that gods live inside of objects, don't you? I guess this one…" the man trailed off.

"Is Lelou…What's the situation?" Suzaku mentally cursed himself for his near slip-up. If the soldiers from before reacted that way to a Britannian student being in the wrong place at the wrong time, then it would be better not to mention him again.

"It looks like the poison gas was released. They say there have been massive casualties among the elevens." The man commented unflinchingly.

"They don't seem to have found the perpetrators yet," the woman added in.

"I see. Not yet…" Suzaku muttered. He now knew from experience that there was no poison gas at all. So if there really had been massive casualties, someone or something else must have caused it.

"Private Kururugi, how much experience do you have in piloting a knightmare frame?" the man suddenly asked.

Suzaku's eyes widened in shock at the question. He glanced up at the man grinning down at him, as if he had misheard the question. "There's no way an Eleven would be made a knight."

In response, the man lifted up his right hand where a golden key has hanging off his pointer finger. "What if you could?"

Suzaku stared at the key in shock. If this was true, he'd be the first Eleven that would ever be offered a knightmare of his own. He was ordered to quickly get dressed and follow the duo out of the medical trailer he was now in. As soon as he was out, he was led to a large knightmare covered by a large black cloth strapped onto a metal stand. Just by looking at it, he could tell this knightmare easily dwarfed the standard Sutherlands.

"Congratulations! The only knightmare of its type in the world awaits you! Mount it, and it'll all change. You and your world." The man exclaimed with glee and… pride.

"Whether you want it to or not." The woman finished solemnly.

* * *

_"Lulu? What have you been up to? Where are you now? If you keep cutting class you'll get held back…"_

"Are you near a TV?" Lelouch asked, cutting off another pointless lecture on the evils of gambling from his fellow student council member, Shirley Fenette.

_"A TV?"_

"Sorry, this is important." Lelouch edged his Sutherland around the corner, but ducked back quickly as two tanks moved down the road. He could simply take them out here, but then he'd be discovered, and his Sutherland could not take on all the other Britannian forces alone. He could have one of those two advanced knightmares do it, but he told them to hold back on the fighting. As far as they knew, Britannia had no knowledge of them or the capabilities of their knightmares. Lelouch wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

_"Jeez. Hang on. Sorry, can I change the channel?"_

_"Huh? To what?"_

"The news. Is there anything about Shinjuku?" Lelouch punched in codes for the knightmare's Factsphere to increase its range. This would give him a more accurate reading on the enemy's positioning and numbers across the entire Shinjuku ghetto.

_"The news? Let's see…Nothing on except stuff about traffic restrictions."_

"Why is it restricted?" Lelouch asked.

_"Dunno. They're not saying anything special."_

'_I see. They'll finish everyone off, then just release whatever story they want.' _He blinked as he picked up an image of several discarded items on the ground before him, probably left behind to escape. There on the ground was a full chess set, with the black king being the only piece on the board. All the others were simply scattered on the ground around it.

_"You're gambling again, aren't you? I told you before how dangerous that is!"_

"Yea, I know." Lelouch cut her off. There was definitely no time or desire to hear that again. "Oh, and tell my sister I'm going to be late coming home. Bye." He hung up his phone and replaced it in his pocket as he disengaged the cockpit, allowing him to descend to the ground.

"Where are you going now?" C.C. asked through the com.

Lelouch merely picked up all the black chess pieces and held them up in the air for the green knightmare's eyes to see.

"You got out for some chess pieces? You're either really stupid, or overly obsessed with that game." Naruto remarked as casually as one would discuss the weather.

"I'll admit it's most likely the latter, but it's not obsession. It's just a hobby of mine." Lelouch stored the pieces in his breast pocket as he re-entered his knightmare. "Listen up. As long as they're trying to suppress this information, it'll be hard for them to call in reinforcements_. _In short, they have to work with the pieces they now have on the board."

"You're planning to fight a war, but treating it like a game. Don't do that." Naruto scolded the teen. "Real war has unpredictable circumstances that can't be planned for, uneven or unfair odds, and all sorts of other variables that can really fuck up your day. Don't take the situation lightly, and treat this like a real war."

Lelouch took a moment to consider the man's words and reluctantly admitted he had a point. After all, in chess the only unpredictable element was the human one. And this had nothing _but_ humans fighting in it. He was sure he could get the terrorists to fight for him, but only if he gave them a reason to listen to him. He had to first prove his worth then. "I acknowledge your point. Follow me up to that building. It's time to recruit my soldiers."

* * *

Kallen took down yet another gunship, but it didn't seem to matter. No matter how many enemies she eliminated, several more arrived to take their place. She wouldn't be able to save the ghetto alone in just her one-armed Glasgow. It had already been proven that her sole slash harken was not going to be enough to deal with those damned Sutherlands. Her Factsphere picked up movement behind her, which turned out to be a pair of Sutherlands, rifles aimed squarely at her back.

She started moving just as they started to fire at her. She kept moving through the slums she knew for sure had no innocents in the way, but understood she couldn't keep running forever. She glanced at her energy bar and cursed. "Only thirty minutes left!"

_"The west entrance!"_ A voice called out through her transceiver. She didn't recognize the voice, and she knew Ohgi and the others would be too busy using this time to evacuate civilians. "_Use the train tracks to move over to the west entrance!"_

"Who is this? How do you know this code?" She demanded. While she realized it might be a trap, surely the Britannian forces knew that such a thing wouldn't be needed against her at this point.

_"It doesn't matter who I am! If you want to win, then trust me!"_

"Win?" Such a notion seemed so utterly impossible that even now, she was questioning this man's sanity. Still, what other option did she have besides following this stranger's advice or getting herself killed by those knightmares. She jumped her knightmare straight up and onto the train tracks he had mentioned, frowning when she saw the two Sutherlands mimic her action.

"Hey! What do I do now?" She looked up as she heard the screeching of a train coming straight at her.

_"Since you trusted me, you get to win. Jump onto the train!"_

"Understood!" She once more had her Glasgow jump into the air and started leaping forward atop the train cars, as the Sutherland directly behind her was stopped by the train. The second one made to leap onto the train after her, but was shot out of the air by a pair of slash harkens coming from a hole blasted into the side of the building. Glancing over, she saw a Sutherland, crouched and watching the tracks.

"F-Friendly fire? What's your unit? The enemy is the one-armed one!" Jeremiah Gottwald received a spray of gunfire at his knightmare in response. "Can it be… a terrorist?" The landspinner on his knightmare's right leg was blown off, halting his retreat and leaving him a sitting duck for the red Glasgow that was now charging back at him atop the train. Left with no other option, he activated his cockpit's ejection system and shot out of his knightmare, the small rocket boosters taking him far out of the fight, before the parachutes deployed.

"You saved me! But how did you get a Sutherland?" She glanced over to the building where her savior was hiding, but found the spot deserted now. "What? Where did he?"

"Hey! Kallen! What was with that radio message before?"

Kallen glanced down and spotted Ohgi and the others running along the tracks towards her. "Huh? He contacted you, too?"

"Yeah! Yoshida's group should be here soon, too…" Static came out of the transceiver Ohgi held in his hand, causing him to look at it in anticipation.

_"You're the leader?"_

Ohgi was startled that Kallen's mysterious savior would contact him directly instead of relaying the message to her as he already had, but he was technically in charge of the group with Naoto's passing. "Huh? Yeah."

_"The cargo of the train that's stopped is my gift to you. They're tools for your victory. If you wish to use them and win, then follow my orders."_

Kallen opened up one of the cars with her knightmare and gasped in surprise. It was filled with inactivated Sutherlands and stockpiles of energy fillers! "Knightmares!"

"There's more over here!"

"Here, too!"

"This is amazing! Let's hear what he has to say."

'_All this? But how?'_ Kallen thought as she counted six cars with two Sutherlands each. That was enough to outfit them all in fresh new knightmares. It was a start, but the others weren't as skilled piloting a knightmare as she was.

_"The woman in the Glasgow."_

The man's voice snapped her into focus once more. "Y-Yeah?" She asked tentatively, as if disappointing him would suddenly cause all these Sutherlands to vanish before their eyes.

_"Stay where you are. That unit's going to run decoy since the Britannians are already aware there is a red Glasgow opposing them."_

Kallen nodded, already seeing the man's point. "Understood."

_"Energy filler status?"_

"About fifteen minute's worth," she responded after checking her meter once more.

"Then load a new one in. In ten minutes, I'll contact you with your next instructions." Lelouch clicked off the transceiver and leaned back against his seat. "This is kind of nerve-wracking." _'Still, I need the determination to succeed. I'm betting not only my life in this battle, but the lives of those people. If I do this right, I should be able to drastically minimize lives lost on our side, if not cut them out altogether.'_ What he had now was not an army. What he had was a fledgling resistance group that would have to grow to epic proportions if he was to make any significant progress in his goal to crush Britannia.

"Are you sure you don't want us fighting?" Naruto asked. He could see the logic in Lelouch's argument for keeping their presence a secret from their enemy.

That didn't mean he had to like it.

"I need you two to position yourselves in the ghetto at the coordinates I'm sending you. Disable your I.F.F tags and take out any opposition you can discretely." Lelouch punched in the coordinates Seizan would be waiting at, followed by Shinryoku's coordinates.

He paused for a moment and clicked on the com once more. "And it's your own fault that you're not fighting, Seizan. Had you not told me to treat this like a real war instead of a game, I wouldn't be holding back my trump cards. Why waste pieces when you're sure just two can get the job done?" Lelouch shut off communications with him before a reply could be made.

No one scolded him and got away with it.

* * *

"The terrorists are mixed among the general Eleven populace and are mounting a bit of a resistance against us, but it hasn't affected our army's overwhelming superiority." General Bartley reported after having examined the digital map of the settlement they were now currently destroying.

"Of course it hasn't. Besides that…" Clovis trailed off, already knowing his general knew what response he wanted to hear.

Bartley nodded. "Understood. The gas capsule will be…"

"Just as the public thinks," Clovis finished.

"Right. And we'll keep looking for the girl."

Clovis held up a white-gloved hand to his forehead, already feeling the beginning of a migraine coming on. Why was one girl causing him such trouble. It seemed his fate depended heavily on retrieving her before she was found by anyone. Let alone, discover the things she could do. "Yes. Dead or alive, you must find her."

* * *

"Hey, are you sure about this? Their I.F.F.'s have been stripped. You sure this isn't an enemy trap?" Tamaki Shin'ichirō asked his leader, while he was getting settled inside one of the new Sutherlands.

"The other side has the total advantage in this war. They don't need to set any traps," Ohgi responded through his knightmare's speakers. "You guys get to your assigned points too."

_"P-1, can you move? The fundamentals shouldn't be different than what you're used to."_

Ohgi quickly grabbed the transceiver before the man decided to cut communications suddenly. "Who are you? At least tell us your name."

_"I can't do that. What if these signals are being intercepted? Anyway, if Q-1 is on schedule, enemy Sutherlands will be reaching you in twenty-three seconds. Probably two of them. Shoot them through the wall."_

Tamaki scoffed at the orders being given to them by a guy too cowardly to reveal his name. "What's he talking about?"

Ohgi set down the transceiver and slotted his knightmare key in. They really had no choice but to trust this man, and what harm could actually come from shooting through a wall? If there were any civilians left in the area, Britannians would have been here much sooner than this to finish them off. "Everyone, double check your weapons."

"Hey, are you serious?" Tamaki demanded angrily.

"Just do it Tamaki. We have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Unless you'd like to just give up now and be killed?" Ohgi asked sarcastically.

All around him, the rest of the group powered up their knightmares, and quickly loaded the powerful assault rifles they carried. Even Tamaki begrudgingly got into his own knightmare and leveled his rifle at the wall in front of them.

"3…2…1…Fire!" At his command, Ohgi and the others to fired through the wall, grinning in triumph when he spotted a flash of metal on the other side of the concrete wall. They kept firing until it was painstakingly obvious both knightmares had been destroyed. The wall before them had been made into Swiss cheese from the multitude of rounds penetrating it.

Lelouch chuckled as his tactical map readout indicated two knightmares had just been lost. It was fortunate he had received a knightmare with the Britannian forces clearly labeled as allies. It made it so much easier to manipulate them that way. '_An I.D. can be a double-edged sword,'_ he mused, holding up a black knight piece. _'Besides, if the terrorists follow my commands, then the path to Clovis will be left clear to me.'_ He set down the knight and picked up the transceiver again, clicking it on briefly to relay his message. He highly doubted their signals were being intercepted, but just in case they were, he always turned his off after each message. No need for his voice to be recognized by chance. "P-1, P-4, P-7! Move 100 meters to the right and fire your slash harkens towards three o'clock."

"Alright! Do what the voice says people!" Ohgi ordered. He wasn't sure how, but this man was either predicting the enemy's movements or dictating them himself to ensure their defeat at the hands of his group. Either suited him, and he was starting to believe they could and would come out of this, not only alive, but victorious.

The three indicated knightmares in the group traveled down the road and turned the corner, impaling an oncoming knightmare with a total of six different slash harkens. Even Tamaki had to grin, dealing such destruction to a Britannian pilot who had been officially trained to use his knightmare.

Kallen used her own slash harken to pull her Glasgow up over a roof and land back down on the other side of the building, where she rammed her fist into a knightmare that had just opened up the protection around its Factsphere.

* * *

"Sir Glaube has ejected! Frame has been lost!"

"Change codes! They're intercepting our transmissions!" Bartley ordered. This was bad. He'd been watching signal after signal read out as lost on the battlefield. How could these terrorists be putting up this difficult of a fight?

"We have! Four times already!"

"Do it again!" he ordered.

"This failure is unacceptable!" Clovis yelled out in the command center, outraged. A bunch of Elevens were getting the best of the highly trained Britannian military. Worse, it was making him look foolish!

"Hello there!"

Directly on the screen in front of him, a video call from Lloyd Asplund, the head of the Britannian Special Research Division, or Camelot, covered up the tactical map he'd been observing, where his forces were shown to be dwindling. He wasn't sure this image was an improvement.

"What is it? We're in the middle of an operation!" Bartley exclaimed in frustration.

"Then it's time to deploy the A.S.E.E.C's special weapon." Lloyd reasoned.

"This isn't the time!" Clovis wasn't about to let his older brother's pet project steal all the glory from his area. This battle would be won by the forces under his command.

* * *

Naruto watched on amusedly as another one of the resistance members fired a shot straight through a tank, utterly destroying it. He could have done that from here, but apparently Lelouch didn't even want these people to know about him or C.C. unless absolutely necessary. So far, all he'd managed to take out was a single tank and a pair of gunships. "Gah! I need some action! I need a good fight!"

C.C. sent one of the blades from her right Harken fan into a gunship passing overhead, making sure to wait until she could destroy it from behind to avoid being seen. "I have to agree. I'm not finding any challenge in fighting cannon fodder. Look at the bright side though, Naruto."

"Oh and what possible bright side could there be to not being allowed into the fight?" Naruto asked sullenly.

"All this frustration on my part will need to be relieved in some other way. Tonight. By you." C.C. said as if speaking to a mentally deficient child.

"I gathered that much, thank you. You're as subtle as a rhino when you're asking for sex. No wait, you never ask, you just demand." Naruto said dryly with a roll of his eyes that he knew she could see.

"I didn't hear you complaining on your birthday." She remarked teasingly as she retracted both fans into the slots beneath Shinryoku's wrists.

Naruto smirked and moved Seizan further back behind the ruined building. "What can I say? It was practically beat into my head that I shouldn't talk with my mouth full."

* * *

"Now then, the enemy has five options." Lelouch remarked as he watched knightmare after knightmare get wiped out by his tactical advantage and the people following his orders without hesitation. His eyes were drawn to the screen as a ring of enemy Sutherlands started closing in around the position he'd predicted. "Well now, they made an even stupider move than I expected."

"Q-1, your map is accurate, right?" Lelouch asked.

"Right. For the old town," Kallen confirmed. "But, without any current landmarks…"

"It'll do. Mission number 3." Lelouch ordered.

"Understood." Kallen quickly navigated her Glasgow through the ghetto following the basic path from her map and into position where she'd been told to wait. She looked around and frowned. The area was entirely open, with no cover around her at all. What was she supposed to do here?"

* * *

"Surround them and concentrate our forces there!" Clovis ordered, tapping a finger on the singular red dot in the middle of the ghetto. It wasn't moving from its position, so he assumed they were lying in wait, ready to ambush his knightmares. No matter, they would fail when faced with the onslaught of his overwhelming numbers. "The enemy's main force is where the center dot is! Finish them!"

Just as his knightmares were closing in, the red dot suddenly vanished from the map.

"What? The enemy isn't there?" Clovis asked in shock.

* * *

Kallen counted down the meters her Glasgow was to move forward until she was in position. It had actually taken her a few moments before she finally figured out what the purpose of her moving underground and sending her slash harken up at the top of the tunnel was. She'd voiced her complaints about being crushed under tons of rubble, but the man had calmly informed her she'd have four seconds to get her knightmare back above ground at the end of the tunnel.

The man had called it easy.

She finally stopped and turned around, sending her slash harken into the top of the tunnel, creating a multitude of cracks resembling a spider's web. She immediately retracted it, and started rushing to the end of the tunnel, even as she heard the ground the Sutherlands had been standing on crashing down into the tunnel behind her.

Thee seconds, two… at the last second, she sent her harken shooting into the side of a building and pulled her self up with it, avoiding a quick, albeit embarrassing death being crushed by rubble. If she was going to die, it was going to be either by battle or by age, not by an accident.

Lelouch started laughing victoriously as a wave of destruction started spreading out from the point he had sent Q-1 to, taking out almost fifty knightmares. He couldn't have planned it any more perfectly. "It worked, didn't it? I can do it! I can! I can defeat Britannia!"

* * *

Clovis stepped back in shock, having witnessed the majority of his forces eliminated in a single instant. _'Who… who in God's name am I fighting? Can he be even better than Tohdoh?' _

"Lloyd!" Clovis called out seriously.

"Hmm? Yes, your highness?"

"Can it win? Will your toy beat them?" Clovis asked desperately. The least he could hope for now was a Britannian victory. Never mind that he wouldn't get the credit for it, if the Elevens won here, the loss would be placed squarely at his feet.

Lloyd chuckled softly and plastered a confident smirk on his face for the crown prince. "Your Highness… Please call it Lancelot."

* * *

_"Advanced unit weapon Z-0-1 Lancelot, now activating. Lancelot activating. Releasing hatch."_ The automated voice rang across the Britannian defensive line, alerting all around to move away from the Camelot truck.

The specialized equipment truck slowly slid out the stand that the Lancelot was attached to, the black sheet fluttering in the wind as it was brought outside for the first time since its creation.

_"Z-0-1 Lancelot, stand by for activation. Pallet extension, initiating."_

"Did you read the manual?" Cecile Croomy, Lloyd's assistant and the main technical engineer working on the prototype Lancelot KMF, asked.

"More or less," Suzaku answered as he started donning the special pilot suit he'd been given. As soon as it was fully zipped up, he felt the suit re-size itself to fit him snugly, but not uncomfortably.

"Well done. You scored in the top class in the simulator."

"Look…About what you said before…" Suzaku started walking out of the medical trailer and out to the equipment truck where he would enter his new knightmare. Even now, he couldn't believe this was happening.

"It's possible," Cecile admitted hesitantly. "But the possibility's still close to zero."

"But not actually zero, right?" Suzaku asked hopefully

"I'm afraid that's true. Still, I don't want you doing anything reckless. The new system doesn't have a cockpit ejection system installed yet." Cecile warned the young honorary Britannian.

"Right. I understand, Miss Cecile." He stared up in awe as the metal clamps holding the sheet over the knightmare were released, allowing the sheet to be blown off from the wind. "This is it?"

The knightmare was huge. It was primarily white, but had golden armor pieces around the head, chest, arms and legs. And it actually had a distinctly human-like face rather than just a covered Factsphere for a head.

"Right. The experimental weapon developed by us in the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps. Lancelot." Cecil exclaimed with a calmer sense of pride than her superior. "The world's first 7th generation Knightmare Frame."

"Alright then Suzaku, shall we proceed with the initial start-up?" Lloyd asked impatiently, eager to finally see his masterpiece in action.

"Initial start-up proceeding from phase 20. Equipping energy filler." Cecil dictated to the other engineers and mechanics around the Lancelot.

"Confirm pre-start. Energy filler now at normal output. Thirty seconds to reach critical voltage."

"Core Luminous, shifting phase. Yggdrassil Drive operational."

"Devicer, set up," Cecil called out to Suzaku, who nodded and sat down in the seat, which was then inserted back into the cockpit.

_"Confirming entry of Devicer to Z-0-1. Individual I.D. Registration complete. Confirm establishment of man-machine interface. Yggdrassil resonance, confirmed. Rejection response, weak. Devicer stress response, weak. All readings, normal."_

"It's all going according to the data so far," Lloyd remarked calmly.

Suzaku punched in his activation code, and quickly had the launch pad beneath the Lancelot's feet split apart into two separate pads, one for each foot. The landspinners attached to each leg swung down, resting on the back of the truck, as the Lancelot bent over, resting one hand lightly on the ground before it. "Lancelot… M.E. Boost!" The core Luminous began filling the entire frame with power, as the landspinners started moving rapidly before the knightmare had even moved.

"Lancelot… LAUNCH!" Cecile called out.

Immediately, Suzaku blasted off from the truck and into the ghetto, moving both quickly and agilely to avoid wreckage of destroyed buildings and Sutherlands.

"Full throttle, right out of the gate, huh?" Lloyd said as he laughed in joy that his prized creation was working amazingly.

* * *

"Huh? What's that? Tamaki asked, as his Sutherland's Factsphere was showing him an image of some white knightmare approaching rapidly. "It doesn't look like a Suther…" He didn't get to finish as the knightmare smashed a fist into his knightmare's head, forcing it to activate the automatic pilot ejection.

Lelouch chuckled as he counted up the remaining opposition left between him and his opponent. "Another push and the way will be clear…"

_"This is B-group! Confirm signs of the enemy!"_

"Hm? Reinforcements?" Lelouch asked. "I suppose Seizan was right. I didn't expect them to push back so soon, but that would be human impatience taking place here. Perhaps he was a soldier before Japan fell." He picked up the transceiver, having decided to leave it on after his plan came to fruition. "Status?"

_"Everyone ejected, but they took out four units in no time at all!"_

"Number of enemies?' Lelouch queried.

_"One! Just one!"_ That shocked Lelouch. One knightmare took out four units solo? Typing rapidly with his left hand, he connected the signal from his handheld transceiver to the com system in his knightmare, relaying the message to Seizan and Shinryoku. _"I think it's a new model. Never seen anything like…!"_ The message was cut off from static, but he let out a relieved sigh that his two aces had received the message first.

"Did you two get that?" Lelouch asked urgently.

"You bet we did. Sounds like Britannia has a knightmare that might come close to matching ours. Did you get a lock on its position?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Negative. It doesn't seem to have an I.F.F. installed either, because my readout is not showing any Britannian knightmare moving within our position. You'll have to find it on your own. Should I order a retreat to the terrorists?"

"I would recommend that. No use wasting their lives in a fight they can't seem to win. Meanwhile, we're going hunting. Seizan, if I win, you're buying me pizza tonight." C.C. informed Naruto, already prepping Shinryoku to go searching for this new enemy.

"Like hell I'm letting you blow what little money I have left on that crap!" Seizan cut off the communication, but had the good sense to reactivate his I.F.F., as did Shinryoku. At least now, when they found him, he'd know for sure.

Lelouch shook his head, slightly amused at the, apparently, romantically involved knightmare pilots. "All forces retreat. The Britannians have apparently released some kind of ace, a knightmare that took out four frames alone. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. There's no point fighting a battle you'll lose."

_"Like hell we're gonna run away from this thing!"_ Two Sutherlands raised their rifles and started firing at the large white knightmare directly across from them, only for it to activate some kind of glowing green energy shield on its right forearm, deflecting the bullets away with ease. _"Oi, this thing has some kind of deflector! The bullets are bouncing off of it!"_

"What? The bullets are bouncing off of it?" Lelouch asked.

_"Yeah! What do we do? Ishida!"_

Another burst of static was his response, causing him to frown in annoyance. It'd be so much easier to let them stubbornly fight on and get defeated easily, but he had to show others he could lead even a ragtag group like this to victory. "All forces retreat. I have two of my own aces charging in to hunt this enemy down! If you see a large black and green or black and blue knightmare, do not attack. They are going to take this enemy of ours down. Hide out with the civilians, but ditch the Sutherlands away from your destination. Leave the Glasgow with them as well. The more attention you pull away from your exit point, the safer you'll be."

_"Understood. We'll pull back and let your men deal with this. Kallen! Grab Ishida's group and meet up with us at the west outskirts. We're ditching the knightmares and waiting in the safe house!"_

"Got it, Ohgi!" Kallen clicked off the communication and sped along predetermined routes to evacuate, spotting Tamaki, Ishida and both their respective groups running just ahead of her. She followed after them in her Glasgow, despite having to significantly reduce her speed to avoid running them over, and stopped it just outside the entrance to one of the older subway tunnels.

She left the knightmare running, but got out of the cockpit just as Ohgi and his group arrived, quickly evacuating from their respective knightmares as well. Tamaki quickly set charges around the large group of knightmares, before they all started running back to the safe house they had hid the Shinjuku survivors in.

* * *

Suzaku moved the Lancelot through the ghetto at a much slower pace now than before. After he had dispatched that first group of terrorists, he hadn't seen anymore of them at all. It was actually so calm that he was expecting an ambush at any moment. Suddenly his Factsphere picked up two unidentified knightmares approaching his position very rapidly from opposite directions. He was about to position himself atop the building to his left and let both arrive before he took action, but that decision was taken out of his hands when a large violet dagger pierced through his left arm, destroying the Blaze Luminous shield attached to it.

He spun around quickly as the dagger was retracted, and ended up looking at a large black and deep navy blue knightmare. It stood just a bit taller than his Lancelot, and was holding a deep purple kodachi in its right hand, with a three-pronged violet dagger in the left. This knightmare also had a human-like face, and even had eyes with pupils he noticed, though they must have been designed that intricately on purpose. "You must be the leader of those terrorists, right?"

Naruto stared at the white knightmare the Britannians had created. It was mildly impressive, and even more so, that they had created it using sakuradite alone. There was no type of flight system attached to it however, and it seemed quite limited in its armaments. At least Seizan had ninjutsu to fall back on if melee combat proved ineffective. But this thing only had a pair of swords and four slash harkens by his count.

With no other ranged capabilities, a piss-poor defensive system, and a limit to ground confrontations, this knightmare was _far_ inferior to theirs. If he so desired, Naruto could simply activate his wings and strike down the poor bastard from the sky, but where was the fun in that?

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a leader, I'm a fighter. And you might be the only challenge I'll see all day. I don't mean to offend, but I have to beat you before my partner to win, so I'm going to end things quickly." Naruto tossed his MVS kunai straight at the white knightmare, but sent a burst of chakra and fukushahado radiation through the cable into the kunai as it approached the knightmare.

Suzaku frowned and contemplated his course of action. That dagger had pierced through and destroyed his left Blaze Luminous. But it hadn't been active at the time, and it was destroyed from behind. Even so, Suzaku wasn't sure if the Blaze Luminous would stop that dagger even if it _was_ activated. It was approaching him rapidly, so he made a snap decision and brought up his right arm, the iridescent green Blaze Luminous meeting the projectile head on.

The Blaze Luminous was successful in stopping the dagger, however, he was getting warnings and alerts indicating that the Blaze Luminous was overloading. He wanted to bat away the dagger with his arm and charge straight in at his enemy, but apparently the Blaze Luminous was being… force-fed some type of energy that was slowly neutralizing it.

"Can't stop it…" Desperately, Suzaku launched three slash harkens at his enemy. None of them actually connected, but it was enough to get the knightmare to back off, pulling the dagger back as well. He inspected the readout from the Lancelot's display and frowned. The Blaze Luminous system was utterly fried. Frankly, he was lucky both of the Lancelot's arms still worked after the beating they'd just taken. With no other choice, he pulled out the pair of MVS swords attached to the sides of his cockpit, their glowing red blades a stark contrast to his opponent's dark violet.

Before he could move to settle the fight in close quarters, a second knightmare landed between them, this one a dark forest green and black. It had the same set of eyes as the other, but this one was holding a pair of violet fans. "Could they be… used for melee?"

Suzaku got his answer as the knightmare charged in, using its rotating wrists to try and slice apart his knightmare with the razor sharp edge on those fans. When he brought his swords in to clash, the knightmare simply allowed the blades to land on the flat of the fans, and turned them aside with a quick spin and continued its offense. If he wasn't so frustrated that he couldn't land a single blow against his opponent, he'd be very impressed with the graceful and deadly dance-like movements this knightmare was displaying.

C.C. smirked as she continued her attack, pushing the knightmare back with each swing of her Harken Fans. Her opponent was admittedly, a decent swordsman, but he was nothing compared to Naruto, and subsequently nothing compared to her. It was a bit awkward using these fans as blades, and she was forced to rely more on her knightmare's capabilities than her own skill. "I'm going to have to get some practice in, otherwise these might as well remain slash harkens."

Her opportune moment arrived when she managed to successfully deflect both of her opponent's swords out wide and brought both her fans slashing down, destroying the two Factspheres located in its chest. Not breaking her momentum, she reversed the direction of Shinryoku's wrists and brought the fans back up, cutting the hands of the white knightmare completely off, and thus disarming her opponent.

Suzaku stared shocked as this green knightmare cut straight through the Lancelot's wrists, preventing him from using the Lancelot's MVS swords anymore. "W-Who are these two? How do they have knightmares that surpass the Lancelot?"

_"Suzaku-kun, what's wrong? I'm getting damage readouts from several different systems in the Lancelot. What happened?"_

Cecile's worried voice was nearly drowned out by the frantic screaming coming from somewhere behind her. Suzaku could only assume Lloyd had also found about the damage. "There are two knightmares, as advanced or even more so, than the Lancelot. Both Blaze Luminous shields have been destroyed, the Factspheres are gone, and the Lancelot's hands have been cut off. Also…"

He was forced to cut the communication short as the blue knightmare apparently stepped back into the game, now wielding a pair of the violet kodachi. Now that he suspected those weapons had MVS technology, he had to assume that they were built with more advancements than the Lancelot. Judging by the designs of the weapons as well, they were likely created in Japan.

He might be able to buy himself time by attacking with his slash harkens, but he highly doubted it, especially with two opponents. All he could do now was escape. He turned around and started navigating away from the duo, deeper into the ghetto in hopes he could circle around and retreat to the Britannian defensive line. He turned the Lancelot's head over his shoulder, but only spotted the green knightmare. "What? Where did the blue one go?"

His movement came to an abrupt halt, despite the fact that his landspinners were still running. He glanced down at the Lancelot's legs and saw a pair of hands rising out of the ground and gripping onto them. "What is this…?"

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu!" A voice called out through a set of knightmare speakers, before the Lancelot was pulled down into the ground until only its head was sticking out. The blue knightmare inexplicably rose out of the ground before him, and made a show of clapping its hands together, as if getting dirt off of them.

He didn't know how this knightmare did that, but he couldn't move the arms or legs of the Lancelot at all. Neither could he leave the Lancelot, as the cockpit was buried underground and did not have an ejection system. Even if he had a cockpit ejection system, he doubted if it could push through solid concrete. "You terrorists! You're willing to go this far to kill innocent people?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it wasn't the terrorists that started murdering innocent people in this settlement. That was Britannia. Now be a good boy and sit here quietly while thinking about how poorly you fight." Naruto grinned to himself as he left the knightmare there, content with a humiliating defeat of his opponent rather than an outright death. It wasn't actually needed, and that knightmare would not be seeing combat again for a while. "Oi, C.C.! I beat him first! That means you have to eat ramen with me tonight!"

"Hmph. Fine, we might as well get moving anyways. That boy said he wanted us to meet him near the Britannian defensive line. I doubt he actually wants us to just destroy the lot of them, so he probably needs an escort out of the area or something."

* * *

"T-They buried my Lancelot? How did they? How could they? No other knightmare could surpass the Lancelot, let alone two! T-T-They defiled my precious creation!" Lloyd had to be physically held back by the other engineers and scientists to prevent him from running out and digging up the knightmare by hand.

Cecile on the other hand, was contemplating who else besides them would have not only the knowledge, but the funds, to build two amazing knightmares like that. And then it came to her. "Rakshata…"

"Rakshata? Rakshata Chawla?" Lloyd asked, the name having an odd calming effect on him. "Yes, I understand. I don't know how she not only developed, but improved upon MVS technology by herself, but if those knightmares were hers, I… begrudgingly… see how the Lancelot might have been… in a disadvantageous situation."

"You mean that it lost right?"

"THE LANCELOT DID NOT LOSE! IT WAS TWO ON ONE!"

* * *

"It's your fault this happened for opposing the Britannians!"

"What? Why, you spineless coward!" Tamaki angrily retorted.

"Do you know how many people died because of this?"

"Shut up! Do you know how many of us were captured or killed?" Tamaki asked the woman, waving his rifle in her face threateningly.

Ohgi and Kallen walked inside the safe house solemnly, Tamaki's point having validity. However, it could have been much worse had it not been for that mysterious man helping them and those two knightmares he had sent in. She had caught a glimpse of the large black and blue one, rushing through the ghetto and was amazed by it. The pilot had obviously been quite skilled, and she could only wonder about that knightmare's capabilities and what she'd do with a knightmare that powerful. "Ohgi, what about that guy we heard before?"

"I don't know. He doesn't answer when I call. He could be dead, but it's more likely that he retreated after that big white knightmare was dealt with."

The doors to the safe house were blasted apart, allowing in a tank and several armed Britannian foot soldiers to enter, guns trained on the several hundred surviving Japanese people hiding out here. "So this is where you Elevens scurried off to. Prepare to fire!"

_"Attention, all forces! Cease fire at once! In the name of Clovis la Britannia, third prince and royal viceroy of Area 11, you are so ordered! All forces cease fire at once! You shall also cease all destruction of buildings here! All casualties, either Britannian or Eleven, shall be treated without prejudice! In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you are so ordered! Cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting!"_

Kallen watched on in shock as the Britannian soldiers, who had been moments away from murdering her and everyone else hidden here, retreated and left them all alive. "What just happened?"

* * *

"Satisfied?"

"Yes, well done."

"What now? A round of songs?" Clovis asked disdainfully. "Or perhaps a nice game of chess?"

"That has a familiar ring." The soldier standing in the darkened command center of the G1 base took off his helmet and tossed it aside, having no need for it now. "Don't you remember? You used to play chess with me. Of course, I always won."

"What?"

"Remember? At the Aries Villa?"

"You…who are you?" Clovis asked the soldier fiercely. No one got away with mentioning that place to him.

"It's been a long time, big brother." The man walked into the light, revealing it to be Lelouch.

Clovis' eyes widened in shock, as he leaned forward, staring at that face as if seeing a ghost. How could this be? It couldn't be him, but he'd recognize that face anywhere.

"The eldest son of the late empress Marianne and 17th in line to the imperial throne. Lelouch vi Britannia, at your service." Lelouch held his left arm across his chest, as he knelt down on one knee before his older brother.

"Lelouch? But, I thought…"

"That I was dead?" Lelouch finished. "I have returned, Your Highness. To change everything." He finished his declaration by pulling out a pistol and holding it level with the viceroy's forehead.

"I… I'm so glad, Lelouch. I heard you died during the capture of Japan. What good news that you're alive! Why don't you come back to the homeland with me?" Clovis said nervously, as he backed himself against his throne as much as possible.

"You intend to use me as a tool of diplomacy again?" Lelouch asked, his hand never wavering as he stepped closer, the gun almost touching Clovis' forehead now. "It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place."

This drew a choked gasp from Clovis.

"Right. Because my mother was killed." Lelouch kept replaying the memory of that night in his mind, and his grip on the pistol only tightened further. "Mother held the title of Knight of Honor, but she was originally a commoner. No doubt the other empresses held her in contempt. Even so… even though you made it look like the work of terrorists...you people killed my mother!"

"It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't!" Clovis protested emphatically.

"Then tell me what you know. No one can lie to me now! Who killed her?" Lelouch asked, the Geass symbol flaring to life within his left eye, and taking hold within Clovis' mind.

The signature red ring around the eyes told him Clovis was affected. The third prince relaxed within his seat and seemed to lose all trace of emotions. "Schneizel, the second prince, and Cornelia, the second princess. They know."

This caused Lelouch to recoil in shock. The two most formidable siblings in the royal family. "They're the ringleaders?" he asked, requiring clarification on their specific role. Did they actually pull the triggers or hire the people who did? All he received in response from Clovis was silence. "That's all you know, huh?" He allowed the eye contact to break, as he deactivated the Geass, returning his left eye to its original purple color.

The effect was instantaneous, as Clovis instantly grew alarmed with the gun in his face once more. "It… It wasn't me, I swear! I didn't kill her! I didn't have her killed!"

"I understand." Lelouch lowered his right arm, allowing his brother to breathe a sigh of relief. "However…" He took a step forward up the steps, and held the gun squarely between Clovis' eyes.

"No, don't! We may have different mothers, but I'm still your brother!" Clovis pleaded desperately.

"You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty." Lelouch unflinchingly pulled the trigger, watching the bullet pierce straight through his brother. The life faded from his eyes rapidly, as Lelouch stared at the now deceased viceroy apathetically. He dropped the gun on the ground and simply walked out of the G1 base. There, as planned, were his escorts out of here.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" Naruto asked through his speakers at the boy, whose stolen Britannian armor was splashed with a fair amount of blood.

"As I am now, I will not be able to influence people and draw them to my cause. Lelouch Lamperouge is not a leader. No… I need to be reborn. Where do all things begin, and where do all things end?" He asked the two knightmare pilots.

"A riddle? Damn, I'm not good with those." Naruto complained childishly.

C.C. smiled amusedly at Naruto's deficiency at mental challenges. "That's actually an easy one, Naruto. The answer…is Zero."

* * *

Finally finished with this. I apologize if Naruto and C.C. did not have a more significant impact in this chapter, but this is only the beginning. Already you can see they are deferring to Lelouch's leadership because neither of them wants to lead, and they just want the end of Britannia. If he can accomplish that, then they will fight for him.

I'm still undecided about Kallen's inclusion to the romance for now. I've heard both good reasons and bad reasons from my reviewers.

Also, all dialogue in italics is someone speaking who is not in the immediate area, speaking through things like a comlink, radio, TV, etc. I'll be using this method more and more in this story so just keep that in mind.

Now if you spot any spelling mistakes, please let me now so I can fix them. And please be patient next time. I don't need people constantly sending me PMs about when I'll update.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto or Code Geass in anyway.

So thirty-seven people have either told me in a review or a pm to hurry up and update my story, apparently not caring that I have my own life to live. Telling me to hurry up or to post the next chapter ASAP is not going to make me work any faster. Nor will it pause everything else in my life so I have time to work on it. So from now on, be patient and don't rush me or tell me to get the next chapter up soon. It will be up when it's up.

* * *

Lelouch quickly fastened the last button on his black uniform, and walked out of the living quarters that had been graciously granted to him and his sister Nunnally by the dean. After the excitement of his first victory over Britannia, sneaking back into a school through an underground maintenance passage was undeniably boring by comparison.

Still, he wouldn't even have achieved that victory without the help from those two powerful knightmare frames that were actually summoned across the world to his location. That white knightmare Britannia had in their possession was powerful, and there was likely little he could do, even with ample planning and good strategy, to enable the terrorists to defeat that monster. _'But against those two, that white knightmare looked like trash. It was completely outclassed, and they hardly revealed any of their knightmare's capabilities. That blue one however, was able to somehow tunnel underground, maneuver itself beneath the white knightmare, and pull it down until only the head was visible. Could it possibly be specialized for underground operations? That could yield a large number of other tactical options in battle besides the one I saw.'_

After they had dropped him off in an alley close to the maintenance tunnel, they had retreated back into the shadows and vanished. Lelouch ran after them to see where they might be heading, but couldn't find the smallest bit of evidence that they had ever been there. That frustrated him a bit, as he'd have liked to be able to contact them if necessary.

As he walked towards the door to his class, he nearly bumped into Shirley's back. He also noticed Rivalz and Nina were beside her, and all three were looking at something very intently. That's when he heard it.

"The terrorists used poison gas?!"

"That's scary! Shinjuku's only thirty minutes away from here!"

"I saw it! There was smoke rising from the direction of Shinjuku. That must have been the poison gas!"

Lelouch peered around his three fellow student council members and saw images being viewed on a laptop. Soldiers keeping Japanese civilians back from entering the ghetto and people in hazmat suits working behind them.

"Shinjuku?" Shirley muttered.

"I phoned you about it yesterday," Lelouch said from behind her.

"Lelouch!" Shirley spun around so quickly that she ended up smashing her book bag into Rivalz's head and knocking him to the floor. "Why did you ask about Shinjuku?"

"I was hearing about it in real time from a friend of mine," Lelouch explained. "I thought he was exaggerating, so I wanted to hear what the news was reporting about the situation."

He turned away from her and quickly scanned the contents of the laptop over the shoulders of the other students. He saw not one mention of Clovis's assassination. _'Strange… why would they hide the news about it?' _Just thinking about his actions the previous day had him feeling sick to his stomach, and he rushed to the bathroom faster than he'd thought he was capable of moving.

After thoroughly emptying the contents of his stomach and cleaning his mouth out, he turned off the water rushing into the sink and stared at his violet eyes reflected in the mirror. _'Are they hiding Clovis's death to guard against chaos? But if they do that, then when they announce it…' _He scoffed and shook away the lingering feelings of regret and doubt from killing his half-brother.

"I'm a lot more sensitive than I thought."

* * *

Suzaku groaned softly, his eyes wearily blinking open only to shut tightly at the bright lights hanging above him.

"So you survived after all" said the familiar voice of Lloyd to his left, peering down upon him as if he was a science experiment. "You're lucky we managed to get the Lancelot dug up in time, Suzaku."

"W-What do you mean?" Suzaku asked. A young nurse held up a glass of water to his mouth, which he drank from gratefully.

"The Lancelot's entire cockpit was underground, which meant it couldn't draw in oxygen for you. You were forced to rely on the Lancelot's own reserve supply, and that only lasts as long as the energy filler. By the time we got you out, you'd already passed out from oxygen deprivation." Cecile explained to him solemnly.

Suzaku frowned in disappointment. His first time in a knightmare, and he had nearly died from something stupid like suffocation, thanks to those… "The battle!" he exclaimed.

"A complete and total defeat." Lloyd said, sighing dramatically. "Those two knightmares came out of nowhere and took the Lancelot down like it was junk to be recycled. Still, I shouldn't expect any less from Rakshata Chawla." He commented respectfully.

"How long until the Lancelot is ready to fight again?" Suzaku asked Cecile, since Lloyd seemed to still be considering the work from this other knightmare developer.

"Well…" Cecile trailed off hesitantly. "The repairs to the Lancelot should be finished within a week. It would be three days, but we're adding in a cockpit ejection system now. However, whether it will _get_ to fight again is another story."

Suzaku raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you…?"

"What she means is, that the Lancelot had such a poor debut, that the top brass isn't convinced it's worth the money and resources to keep the project running." Lloyd explained, finally rejoining the conversation. "I've managed to stave off their complaints and threats to shut the program down by telling them this was started by Prince Schneizel. They've backed off for now, but they're no longer in full support either."

Suzaku sighed in frustration. His one chance to show that an Eleven and honorary Britannian could help had failed. If he ever got a chance to meet that blue knightmare in battle again, he'd come out the victor.

"Anyways, it looks like things in Area 11 will be changing drastically from now on," Lloyd muttered, scribbling on a clipboard as he spoke "What with Clovis being assassinated and Cornelia on her way to…"

"Prince Clovis was assassinated?!" Suzaku gaped, eyes wide as he stared at the eccentric scientist in disbelief. "But…how did they?!"

"Kururugi Suzaku." Suzaku glanced up to find three members of the Britannian Military Police, lead by Jeremiah Gottwald, standing in the doorway. "We would like you to come with us please."

* * *

The second Lelouch walked up to the classroom door, he knew something big had taken place. For one thing, he heard no noise inside, whether it was the droning voice from the teacher, or the hushed mutterings between students. It was dead silent inside. He quickly opened the door to find two students at the front of the classroom passionately locking lips in front of the class. Everyone else had just been stunned into silence as PDA was highly looked down upon at Ashford Academy, though not strictly forbidden.

The two students, new students apparently, broke apart and gave a mocking bow to the students still watching them. Lelouch almost wanted to applaud the two. Throwing something that shocking into the faces of these students who had lived such cultured and well-mannered lives was like a slap in the face.

The boy on the right was only slightly taller than him, with bright blonde hair and piercing sky-blue eyes. It was quite obvious the boy was athletic and probably more fit than everyone else in the class put together. He was currently grinning at Lelouch with what could only be called a foxy grin.

The girl on the left had long green hair that was tied back in a single long ponytail hanging down to the small of her back. She had intense yellow eyes and was inspecting the faces of the students amusedly, as if she'd like nothing more than to find every way possible to shock them into this state.

Seeing that another student had walked into the classroom, the teacher coughed into her fist to regain some of her lost dignity from staring open mouthed at the vulgar display, as well as the attention of the students. "Ah yes, well, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Senju Tsunade. They have been granted permission to attend the Academy by the dean. Naruto, Tsunade, that boy is Lelouch Lamperouge, the student body vice-president. He'll be the one showing you around the campus."

The two new students turned towards Lelouch, and he instantly knew they were the ones in the two knightmares. The smiles on their faces seemed friendly enough but the look in their eyes; that was anything but normal. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but noticed the blonde boy's smiles widened just a bit further the second he did. That one was very perceptive. He led them over to seats in the back where he usually sat alongside Rivalz, the boy in question currently staring at the green-haired girl like a drooling monkey.

'_They must be confident in their abilities, their anonymity, or both to show up here like this. I wonder where they hid their knightmares. I doubt they'd have entrusted them to the terrorists so easily.' _He drew his gaze away from them and focused on another person who had just recently arrived to class. The girl had red hair hanging down around her face and looked rather quiet. Then he remembered that this girl was the same one he had seen exiting the truck to pilot that red Glasgow.

"Whatcha' looking at, my dear Lelouch?" Rivalz asked, apparently deciding he had stared at the new girl long enough. "Might you have a crush on her?"

"Just thinking this is a rare event," Lelouch replied. "She hasn't been here since the term started."

"Kallen Stadtfeld." Rivalz said. "I hear she isn't well. She was barely in school last year, too. Still, her grades are at the top of the class. Since she's the daughter of the Stadtfeld family, she's got wealth and a gentle disposition. Man, you have high standards!"

"It's not like that." Lelouch denied. He ignored the rest of Rivalz comments and started thinking about how to work this situation to his favor. He had two potential allies on campus with him and a terrorist who likely wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her double life. It wouldn't be a good idea to get all three of them together then. While those two, Naruto and Tsunade he corrected himself, already knew who he was, none of the terrorists knew. It was highly doubtful they'd take orders from a Britannian student, even if he had helped them achieve their first major victory.

When the class broke for lunch, he grabbed both Naruto and Tsunade and led them out of the classroom, telling anyone he passed that he was taking them on a tour of the academy. He walked them all the way around the campus until they reached the south side of the student council building. No students or other club members had any reason to pass by this area so he felt reasonably confident that they wouldn't be disturbed. He turned to look them in the eye and activated his Geass. "Answer my questions."

The faint red ring appeared around both of their pupils, only to be dispelled a second later. "Sorry, but it would be pretty stupid of me to grant you an ability I wasn't immune to." The girl's statement answered two questions he'd wanted to ask, but it also worried him slightly that he couldn't use his Geass on these two. They were not controllable and he could only _assume_ they were actually loyal to him.

"What is it you two want? Why bother showing up here?" Lelouch demanded.

Naruto and Tsunade shared a glance between each other before turning back to him. "We already told you what we want. The destruction of Britannia. So long as they're around, millions of people are being oppressed and killed for no reason. As for why we're here? Well… we were bored." Naruto admitted sheepishly.

"You came here for such a stupid reason?" Lelouch asked doubtfully.

"It's not a stupid reason. What do you think we could actually do until you make another move? Sit in our powered down knightmares and twiddle our thumbs?" Tsunade asked him skeptically.

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose, but he couldn't deny she had a point. He was at least glad they hadn't decided to make a move on Britannia by themselves. If anything was going to happen, it would first be planned. "I thought her name was C.C.? And you're sure Britannia has no idea who you two are?"

"She wasn't going to use her real name for this. Only I'm allowed to know that. And what would people think if she introduced herself as just C.C.? So I picked one from my past that she liked." Naruto explained. "And only a select few Britannians are aware of our existence. Most of those people died in India."

"And you two will be loyal to me? You will fight for me until I have rid this world of Britannia's dominance?" Lelouch asked them seriously.

Naruto stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of Lelouch, and allowed the henge to fall away from his eyes, revealing his Rinnegan with the violet Geass insignia framing the pupil. "We'll fight _with_ you until you give us a reason not to." Naruto held out his right hand to the boy.

"Fair enough. We'll do things the right way then." Lelouch clasped Naruto's hand with his own and shook firmly. With the terms set, he now knew what he had to do to keep their loyalty. He couldn't treat these two like regular pawns or disposable assets. They had to be treated as irreplaceable, just as he considered himself to be. He'd hate having to share any plans with them, but better they work alongside him than against him.

He started walking back to the main area of the campus, followed closely by Naruto and C.C. when he spotted Kallen Stadtfeld swiping a bee out of the air into three separate pieces. Naruto actually whistled in appreciation of the skill necessary to do that. "There's no doubt about it now. She was the pilot from the red Glasgow in Shinjuku," Lelouch muttered to them.

"I saw that thing in battle. Very impressive. She pushed that thing to its limits and actually managed to take down a few Sutherlands with just that one-armed clunker. Give her a real knightmare, and she'd be damn near unstoppable." Naruto praised.

Lelouch nodded slightly, agreeing with all of the points made by Naruto. That girl could be an ace pilot that, alongside Naruto and C.C., would bring about his victory that much faster. He walked over to Kallen just as she turned towards him.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the three of them approaching. "C-Can I help you?"

"Answer my questions." This time, when he made eye contact with Kallen and activated his Geass, he saw it instantly take hold in the form of the red ring around her eyes.

"Yes." Kallen replied obediently.

"You were the pilot of the Glasgow in Shinjuku yesterday?"

"Yes." She answered simply.

"Why are you a terrorist?" Lelouch asked.

"Because I'm Japanese. Although I'm technically half-Britannian."

Lelouch's eyes widened in shock at that revelation. "A half-breed?! But why go that far?"

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, as he leaned back against the tree behind Lelouch.

"Bored?"

Naruto glanced to his right at C.C. who was leaning against the same tree. "Yea, just a little. That Geass you gave him is pretty powerful."

C.C. shrugged as if it didn't matter to her. And a strong argument could be made that it really didn't. It would never bother her or Naruto, and she could simply cancel the effects if it was used on anyone she didn't approve of. "All Geass have a weakness."

"What about ours then?" Naruto questioned her curiously.

C.C. looked pensive as she thought about that. To her chagrin she couldn't think of a significant weakness for their Geass. "Well…you can no longer deactivate your Rinnegan at will."

Even as she said it, C.C. knew that was a moot point. A rampant Geass couldn't be turned off either.

"The chakra drain is minimal. We recover more than we lose." Naruto stated casually. "And since we can cover them up with a henge, we don't need to worry about anyone seeing them. There are still two things I want to try with them though, but I'll wait until it actually becomes necessary."

C.C. nodded. "Those two huh? I want to see you using them for myself sometime. And that includes using them with Seizan."

"Um… Did you want something?"

Naruto's and C.C.'s attention were drawn back to Lelouch and Kallen, where the duo noticed Kallen no longer had a red ring around her pupils. "Oh this should be interesting," Naruto muttered softly. "Shall we stop him from doing something stupid?"

"Hmm…no. Let's watch him make a mess of things. It should be amusing." C.C. decided.

"No, I'm through here." Lelouch said, turning to walk off, noticing that Naruto and C.C. were smirking at him, as if they knew a secret they would not let him in on. He bit back a curse, not wanting to think about what kind of trouble those two had in mind. "Right. Just to be sure…" Lelouch turned around to glance at Kallen once more and reactivated his Geass. "Don't say anything about what happened in Shinjuku."

Kallen blinked in confusion at the odd command. "What do you mean in Shinjuku? What makes you mention that?"

Lelouch stared at Kallen in shock. It didn't work that time. "Return to the classroom," he ordered firmly.

"Only if you answer that question!" Kallen countered.

'_It's not working?! What's going on here?!'_ Lelouch quickly deactivated his Geass and started backing up slowly. Kallen's unwavering gaze was boring a hole in him and he knew Naruto and C.C. would be laughing at him if they could.

"Lulu! Kallen!"

Lelouch turned around to see Shirley waving at them from the 2nd floor window. He could honestly say he had never been happier to see her than at this moment.

"We have to go to the science prep room next! Get a move on!" Shirley called out.

"Crap! I've got to set up the experiment equipment!" Lelouch exclaimed dramatically, slapping his hand to the side of his head. He knew that Nina usually preferred to be the one to set up the equipment, but Kallen didn't need to know that, and Shirley would pass it off as Lelouch doing a favor for someone else on the student council.

He started running towards the doors to the science building. _'It didn't work? But…'_

Kallen stared at Lelouch Lamperouge for a few more moments, suspicions forming rapidly in her head, before turning back towards where she spotted the two new students. "Do you two know what he meant…?"

Naruto and Tsunade were nowhere to be found, as if they had simply vanished.

* * *

Lelouch arrived home to find his younger sister Nunnally and their maid Sayoko sitting at the small table with a lot of paper scattered on it. "Sorry I'm so late."

"Welcome home, big brother." Nunnally said happily.

"Welcome home, sir." Sayoko greeted him respectfully. "Your friends are in the guest room you said they could have."

Lelouch blinked in surprise, but instantly deduced who Sayoko must have been referring to. "Ah, right. I should go see how they've settled in then." He walked down the hallway to his left, past his room, past Nunnally's room, and opened the door to the guest room at the end of the hallway. Not surprisingly, he found Naruto and C.C. already unpacking various belongings like clothes, scrolls and…weapons? "I see you two decided to make yourselves at home."

C.C. closed the drawer that she hid her kodachi in and turned towards the door. "It would be easier and more convenient if you had us close at hand, right? Yet you also don't want anyone accidentally discovering our existence who shouldn't. That means we have to stay here."

Naruto carefully set the massive scroll his master left him atop the dresser and made sure it wouldn't roll over, before he too addressed Lelouch. "We hid our knightmares in the maintenance tunnel you snuck back in through. They have a garage. I'm assuming they used it for vehicles coming in with people to do repairs. It looked abandoned so we put it to use."

Lelouch nodded in agreement. He had seen that garage and it could easily house several knightmares. Still he couldn't just convert Ashford Academy into his new base of operations. He'd need to find a new location soon, and one with room for plenty of knightmares. "Fine. You two can stay here for now, but I plan on getting us a base of operations as soon as I can. When I do, you two will have to stay there with your knightmares."

Naruto and C.C. met each others gaze and turned to Lelouch as one. "Agreed."

* * *

"As you already know, the project was a complete failure. Consequently, I am disbanding this research center." General Bartley informed the researchers and scientists who had been involved in Project R in any way, shape or form.

"What?! But!"

"I've set up a place in Narita for you. Move everything out there." Bartley ordered. "While none of us remember doing so, the fact is that I and the other staff officers left Prince Clovis alone. I'll likely be recalled to the homeland to take responsibility for that. If His Majesty learns that this experiment has proceeded without his knowledge then…" He trailed off, letting them come to their own conclusions about the consequences.

"Understood, sir! We'll make preparations as fast as we can!"

Bartley nodded in satisfaction as he turned and walked out the door after setting down a photograph on the table in the room.

A photograph displaying a green-haired woman escaping the battlefield of WWII.

* * *

Lelouch set down the dinner plates on the table in front of him and Nunnally, though he took her plate first to cut her steak into pieces. He had given Sayoko the night off after making their dinner, while Naruto and C.C. had been given his credit card to go out for pizza or ramen. They had still been arguing about that even as they left the building.

"Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about origami. When you fold a piece of paper over and over, you can make birds and boats and all sorts of things!" Nunnally described excitedly. She had been talking so fast, that she had some soup trailing down from her mouth.

"You really don't have to be talking so fast." Lelouch said softly, taking his napkin and gently wiping the soup away from her mouth. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you, big brother," said Nunnally.

"You're very welcome." Lelouch replied with a smile.

"I'm so glad. You sort of scared me last night."

"Did I? Sorry. I had something to think about." Lelouch said, hating that it was necessary to lie to his sister, the one person for whom he cared the most.

"So…" Nunnally started, drawing Lelouch's attention back to her. "They say if you fold a thousand cranes, your wish comes true. So, if you have anything to wish for…" she trailed off, holding up the delicate pink crane Sayoko had made for her yesterday.

"Oh, no. Not me. And, you, Nunnally? Do you wish for anything?" Lelouch asked kindly.

"I wish the world was a gentle place." Nunnally stated simply.

Lelouch smiled at the innocence of his sister. "When you can see again, I'm sure it will be."

"Really?" Nunnally asked happily.

"I promise."

Those two words brought the happiest smile he had ever seen on his sister's face and he wanted to make sure it stayed there. _'That's right. There are few futures which are open to us. While they may be sheltering us here, will the Ashford family always be there to back us up? If our identity was ever revealed, even Shirley, Rivalz, and the others would abandon us. Our fate is to be either political tools or the prey of other peoples' conspiracies. I have to make it. Make a world where Nunnally can live happily.'_

Lelouch set his hand down over Nunnally's, only for her to lift it up and wrap her pinky finger around his. "She taught me about this before. It's how the Japanese make a promise. Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie. I swear." She finished, having sung the promise in her soft lyrical voice, and gently pulled their hands apart.

Lelouch blinked and decided to humor her. "Now I'm scared! I may have to eat a thousand needles someday!"

Nunnally smiled innocently and wagged her pinky in the air at him. "Uh-huh! So you better not be lying."

"It's ok. I'm not lying." Lelouch said.

_'Not to you, at least.'_

* * *

Lelouch activated his Geass and stared down at his rippling reflection in the river below him. _'This is the only weapon I have. And I don't even know how to use it.'_

"Lelouch!"

Lelouch deactivated his Geass quickly, and looked up to see who had called his name. He saw it was just his history teacher approaching.

"Class will be starting soon!"

"Oh. Yes, sir!" He decided to test his Geass on his teacher to see if it still functioned properly. That Kallen had seemingly broken his hold over her disturbed him greatly. "Sir, could you please tell me what questions will be on our essay exam?"

"They'll cover The Humiliation of Edinburgh, The Transfer of the Capitol to the New World, and The North-South War." His teacher answered calmly, with the signature red ring surrounding his pupils.

'_So, I haven't lost this power after all?' _Lelouch deactivated his Geass, removing the connection on his teacher. He locked eyes with his teacher once more and reactivated the Geass. "Sir! Could you please tell me what questions will be on our essay exam?"

"Quit joking around and study seriously! You can handle them if you make the effort." Lelouch's teacher chastised as he walked away, heading for the main building.

"Right!" Lelouch called back. _'As I suspected. It can only work once on the same person. If I break the connection, I can no longer issue orders or commands to that person. Then again, perhaps C.C. could wipe the effects of my Geass so I could issue a new set of commands or orders.'_

* * *

"So, how's life at your dear old school?"

"Stifling." Kallen responded. "Well, almost. There are these two new students that made out in front of the class, and I know they did it just for the shock value. It was pretty funny watching these stuck up Britannians' reactions. Anyways, maybe I should head back to you." She said hopefully.

"The army's on high alert right now. Stay there and let things cool down." Ohgi informed her.

"But what about the voice on the radio? Or those two knightmare pilots?" Kallen asked.

"You can't go looking for a voice. And those two knightmares disappeared after taking care of that white monster Britannia unleashed on us. You can assume they're working for that guy you heard. Besides…" Ohgi turned around and glanced at the picture frame on the table behind him. "Naoto would be happy you're a student again."

Kallen scowled, unable to believe Ohgi would use her brother against her like that.

"Forget what happened in Shinjuku for now. I'll contact you again later." With that, Ohgi abruptly ended the call.

'_Shinjuku… I understand, but!'_ Then it hit her. That student, Lelouch, had told her not to say anything about what happened in Shinjuku. She had thought it was just about all the rumors the students were spreading, but could he really have meant the battle that took place?

_'Is it possible that was his voice?'_

* * *

Kallen ignored the useless lecture on Britannian history, and opened her pencil box with a built-in mirror. She quickly spotted Lelouch behind her and to the left. He certainly didn't look like someone that could lead their group to victory against Britannia. He hardly looked like he run a mile. The second he was called on to stand up and answer a question, she perked up instantly.

As she listened to him speak, she was mentally trying to compare his voice to the one that had spoken to her through the radio. _'It's similar… or is it? No. I don't remember the voice well enough to be sure!'_

Lelouch sighed as he sat back down and glanced at Kallen, noticing the mirror in her pencil box which she hastily shut. _'All I gave her was knowledge that I know about Shinjuku. However…'_

'_If he knows who I really am…' _Kallen thought, as she turned around to scrutinize the boy sitting in the corner of the room.

'_Then as soon as possible…'_

'_I need to take care of him.'_

As soon as class ended, Lelouch started packing away his things as quickly as possible without seeming like he was in a rush.

"Say Lulu, we're about to head over to…"

"Sorry. Maybe next time." Lelouch said, cutting Shirley off as he walked over to Kallen who was surrounded by several of her friends. Though he highly doubted she would label any of them as such while fighting Britannia.

"Could you come with me, please? I'd like to talk to you." Naturally this statement caused all the girls around her to gasp in surprise. He could possess only half the intellect he had now and still know what they thought was happening.

Kallen stood up and nodded. "Yes. I was expecting you'd ask."

He led her out the door and across the campus towards the massive student council club house, the second largest right after the administrative building that held the quarters and offices of the faculty members.

"I never knew there was any place like this in school." Kallen commented as she stared at the massive ballroom they were now standing in.

"It's the clubhouse for use by the student council. It was built large enough to host a formal dance." Lelouch explained.

"And we won't be disturbed in here?" Kallen asked.

"Exactly." He responded.

Kallen slowly started reaching her hand towards her pocket, where she kept the pink coin purse that held a concealed knife, until an exclamation from above stopped her short.

"Found it! Found it! Look, it's this, right?" Shirley asked, holding up a small computer chip between her fingers.

"Ah! That's it! The experiment data." Nina confirmed, walking over to take the chip back.

Rivalz stood up beside Shirley and started stretching his back, resulting in several loud cracks. "Man, my back hurts after being forced to crawl around looking for such a tiny thing."

As if that wasn't enough for Kallen, the door to the clubhouse opened, revealing Milly in a green apron pushing a silver cart laden with food. She glanced at Lelouch from the corner of her eye and noticed he was also shocked about the presence of the other student council members.

"Um… What is all this?" He asked Milly.

Milly set the plates of food onto one of the tables and turned to look at Lelouch. "Didn't you bring her here because you knew? It's because we're letting Kallen, Naruto and Tsunade onto the student council."

Lelouch's and Kallen's eyes went wide at Milly's statement, though for two different reasons.

"Naruto and Tsunade too?" Lelouch gasped.

"Naturally." Milly confirmed.

"We're required to join a club, but all the ones here are boring. There are no fighting, or swordsmanship clubs here. So we figured we might as well get to the top of the ranks."

Lelouch looked up and saw Naruto and C.C. looking down at him from the second level. He should have realized they wouldn't have left him alone so easily. Even though he hadn't seen them since the other night.

"Yup. My grandfather said the three of them could join. Naruto and Tsunade, because they're friends of yours and the fact that we're not allowed to have 'violent' clubs here. And Kallen because he said it would be hard for her to participate in regular club activities because of her health problems. Oh! I'm Milly, the council president. How do you do?" She said, finally remembering that she hadn't formally introduced herself to Kallen.

"Oh. Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kallen said awkwardly.

The other three members ran down the stairs towards her, but Naruto and C.C. simply flipped off the edge and landed crouched behind her.

"I'm Rivalz, the secretary. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."

"I'm Shirley, and I'm also in the swim club. How do you do?"

"And, I'm Nina," the bespectacled girl finished shyly.

Kallen nodded in greeting to all three, but turned around as soon as she felt it was polite to do so and faced the duo that had dropped down. If Lelouch was the voice she had had heard, might not these two be the knightmare pilots who had decimated Britannia's ace in the hole? "Um… I don't think we've been introduced to each other. I'm Kallen Stadtfeld."

Naruto stood up and smiled at her. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's an… honor to meet you."

C.C. stood up beside him, and gave her an amused smirk. "I'm Senju Tsunade. I'm sure getting to know you will be fun."

Kallen blinked at their odd introductions but nodded slightly anyways. Their names indicated they were Japanese, which made her wonder how they were allowed to attend the academy, but could they really be the knightmare pilots? They hardly seemed like people skilled in combat. "Nice to meet you two."

"Um... Milly? Can i talk to you alone, please?" Nina asked quietly.

Milly raised an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded as she and Nina stepped away from the group and stood by the bottom of the staircase. "What is it Nina?"

"Why... why are two Elevens at this school? Why did you let them join the student council?" Nina asked, staring at Naruto and Tsunade in fear, as if they might suddenly run over and attack her.

Milly nodded in understanding, and glanced over at the duo quickly before turning back to Nina. "My grandfather wouldn't tell me much, but apparently they're longtime friends of Lelouch, and are _very_ influential."

"Influential?" Nina gasped. "But the only way that could be was if they were Britannian!"

"Or at least half," Milly agreed, having had the same thoughts when she was informed of it by her grandfather. "Probably a deceased Eleven parent, whose name they took. I wasn't told who their parents were, but they have to be significant if even my grandfather acknowledges their importance."

Nina had calmed down significantly at this news and was now looking at the two new students in a radically different manner. The more she stared at them, the more her mind associated their features with Britannians instead of Elevens. After all, she had never seen a blonde Eleven, or one with green hair. "I see. Thank you for telling me, Milly."

"Sure, no problem." Milly said, knowing full well of Nina's general distrust of non-Britannians. Personally, she had no problem with them, and would've even called them Japanese if she didn't already know it would have brought her unnecessary problems with Nina. The two of them rejoined their friends, and smiled as Nina walked over to Naruto and Tsunade and properly introduced herself, who then greeted her warmly.

"Um, excuse me Shirley, but could you put these on the table for me?"

Kallen looked over Shirley's shoulder and saw a young girl rolling in on a wheelchair with her eyes closed. On her lap were a pair of pizza boxes, and a tray of cake slices.

"Oh, thanks, Nunna!" Shirley said as she ran over and took the food off of Nunnally's lap.

"Nunnally. You, too?" Lelouch asked in shock.

Milly saw the confused look on Kallen's face, and decided to be the one to explain. "This is Lelouch's little sister."

"I'm in the middle school group, so I'm not in the student council." Nunnally stated softly.

"That's okay. You're an associate member, right?" Rivalz said encouragingly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kallen." Nunnally stated with a friendly smile.

Despite being Britannian, Kallen couldn't find it in herself to see Nunnally Lamperouge the way she saw all the others. There was an innocence about the girl that led her to believe she would greatly disapprove of all the things Britannians had done to the Japanese if she knew the details. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Nunnally." Kallen replied sincerely.

"Okay then! First, shall we drink a toast?" Rivalz called out exuberantly as he brought out a bottle of MOËT & CHANBON, one of the most expensive brands of champagne that could be obtained outside of the homeland. Lelouch wasn't sure how Rivalz of all people obtained a bottle, but he wouldn't say no to a drink.

"Champagne!" Shirley called out in surprise.

"Student council members can't drink!" Nina protested.

"Oh, loosen up, you guys." Rivalz said as he tried to uncork the bottle with his thumb. That was until Shirley moved over and tried to take the bottle away from him.

"Lelouch, catch!" Rivalz yelled, tossing the bottle through the air towards the council vice-president.

Lelouch caught the bottle easily and started moving towards the table where the glasses had been set down.

"You're not getting away with it either, Lulu!" Shirley reached up to try and take the bottle away from the taller boy, who simply held it out of her reach. Shirley frowned and jumped up to grab it, but ended up knocking Lelouch down to the ground. The impact caused the cork to come shooting out of the bottle straight towards Kallen.

Kallen was about to smack it out of the air until a hand appeared in front of her face, catching the cork before she could even start to react. She glanced at the owner and saw that Naruto had been the one to inadvertently save her cover, and was giving her a confident smile, which she found herself wanting to return.

Then the champagne came flowing out, drenching her from head to toe.

* * *

"That's why I hate Britannians. For crying out loud…" Kallen sighed as she allowed the hot water to cascade down upon her. A knock on the bathroom door startled her and she pulled the curtain away just enough to glance at the door.

"It's Naruto. I brought you a change of clothes."

"You can come in. The shower curtain's closed."

She closed the curtain and heard the door open, allowing Naruto to enter, and close once more. So they were alone. That suited her just fine. There were a few things she wanted to ask him.

"Sorry about before. I've never actually heard of champagne before, so I didn't know it sprays out when the top is removed." Naruto said as he placed a set of clothes in the wicker basket by the sink, which Lelouch had said he could take.

"It's fine. At least you stopped that cork from hitting me in the face. That was pretty fast." Kallen said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Naruto had to hold back a chuckle. He knew Kallen was fishing for information, and Lelouch had told him to stall for exactly three minutes. "I've had some martial arts training, and I've been called a natural athlete. What about you? Surely a sickly girl couldn't just swipe a bee out of the air into three pieces…"

That stopped Kallen cold. He had seen her dropping her act, if only for just a moment. That was right before Lelouch had walked up to her and told her not to say anything about Shinjuku. Now she was even more convinced that Naruto was connected to Lelouch and the voice from Shinjuku. However, she still had nothing more than her assumption that Lelouch was the voice. "Oh, I'm getting better. Britannian medical science has improved a lot recently." She winced as she finished making that statement. That was the kind of pathetic excuse she swore she'd never need to use. "A-Anyways, where's Lelouch?"

"Oh, you're interested in him?" Naruto teased.

Even though he couldn't see it, Kallen's face was bright red from the blush that rose to her cheeks. "N-No! I just wanted to know what he was doing right now. I know Shirley and Milly took my clothes to be washed, after all."

"He's scrubbing the club house floor with Rivalz. Who wants sticky floors in a ballroom, right?" Naruto asked rhetorically, as he counted down in his head. "Well, I should probably leave you alone now. I'll see you later."

"Wait!" Kallen reached her hand out from behind the curtain. "Could you hand me that pouch by the sink?"

"Sure." Naruto picked up the small pink pouch, wondering what she had inside that weighed more than the pouch looked like it could carry, and set it in her outstretched hand. He turned to walk out the door but was stopped by her hand gripping his wrist. "Seems someone got better _much_ faster than expected."

"Were you in the Shinjuku ghetto on that day? Were you one of the knightmare pilots that took out that white knightmare Britannia sent?" Kallen asked seriously, her grip tightening slightly.

"Who knows? I am Japanese, and there are very few places someone like me is allowed to live now, even in my own country." Naruto responded.

"Don't play dumb!" Kallen demanded. "You and Tsunade only spend time around Lelouch. Why did he mention Shinjuku?"

'_Ten seconds.'_ He was impressed with her grip, but it was hardly going to break _his_ wrist. "Is there something wrong with Shinjuku?"

"Don't answer my question with a question!" Kallen said angrily. "Is the answer yes, or no? I don't want to hear anything else!" She picked up the pink pouch that had fallen to the tub floor and ejected a hidden blade from the end of it, holding it just above Naruto's wrist.

Naruto stared at the gleaming blade she was threatening him with and was tempted to either put her in her place, or scoff at such a puny little thing. He'd been stabbed through the chest with a fist covered in lightning. A little pocket knife was not going to scare him. Suddenly the phone beside him started ringing and he had to stifle his grin. "If I don't answer that, someone might come."

Naruto picked up the phone slowly, acting as if he was trying not to make any sudden movements. "Hello? Ashford Academy, student council bathroom. No, I'm…no I'm not in there with her. Well why didn't you just say so?" He handed the phone to Kallen. "It's for you. He says you'll know him if you talk to him."

Kallen narrowed her eyes, not wanting to lower her weapon, but saw no other option, as she wanted to find out who knew to call her here. She set the knife down on the edge of the tub and took the phone from Naruto. "Hello?"

_"I'm glad you're alive and well, Q-1."_

Kallen's eyes widened in shock. This was the voice from Shinjuku. Naruto told her Lelouch was cleaning the ballroom. He could have easily slipped away to make this call, well she'd hold that thought back for now. She could confirm that by just asking Rivalz or Nunnally if Lelouch had left at any point while she was away.

_"The day after tomorrow, at 4:00. The observation deck of the old Tokyo Tower. Come alone."_

"Who are you?! How did you arrange that cease-fire order?!" Kallen questioned him, only to hear a click from the other end. "Hey! Don't hang up on me!" In her frustration, she had jerked the phone cord out, pulling the shower curtain wide open.

"What do you mean, cease-fire order?" Naruto asked her. "Sounds like you have some pretty dangerous friends."

"Oh…that was just…" Kallen paused, trying to find a suitable explanation. "A game! It's a war game I play when I'm so sick, that I have to stay home." She released his wrist and mentally congratulated her quick thinking.

"I've already told one person not to treat war like a game. I don't think I need to tell you the same thing. Oh, and I can see you." Naruto finished with a smirk, taking a quick moment to appreciate her form before he left the bathroom.

Kallen blinked at his odd words, but looked down and noticed that her nude form was clearly visible to him. She screamed and crouched down, pulling the shower curtain back to hide herself. She heard the door shut after him, and turned off the water. "Already told one person not to treat war like a game…what did he mean by that?"

* * *

After having dressed in the clothes provided by Naruto, Kallen made her way back through the clubhouse towards the ballroom where she saw everyone gathered around the television, watching the Britannian News. "Hey, Rivalz?"

The blue-haired boy turned around to face their newest member. "Hmm? What is it Kallen?"

Kallen glanced momentarily at Lelouch, but he seemed too preoccupied with the discussion he was having with Naruto and C.C. "Lelouch was cleaning the ballroom the entire time right? Did he leave, even for a few moments?"

Rivalz raised an eyebrow at the question but shook his head. "No, Lelouch was here the entire time. Tsunade had to excuse herself because she had er...womanly problems, and Lelouch offered to escort her to the nurse's office, but she told him not to bother."

Kallen nodded contemplatively. Lelouch would not have had a chance to make the call then. She dismissed the possibility of Tsunade being the caller immediately. She'd heard the girl's voice and there was no way she could have sounded like that man. "I guess they're not involved…" she muttered under her breath. She slowly walked over to the group and glanced at the television, if only to see what was so interesting.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Prince Clovis has died." Rivalz said, walking over to her. "They say he was killed."

Kallen blinked in surprise. That meant it had to have happened after he called that cease-fire order.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, waiting to see who would receive the blame for this. He felt C.C. slip something into his pocket and move back over to Naruto's side. Just for confirmation, he slipped his right hand into his pocket and felt the recorder he'd given her. Good. That meant she'd completed the task to throw Kallen off their trail.

On screen, the entire Purist Faction, led by Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald had gathered in the viceroy's palace to hold the press conference.

_"Prince Clovis has passed away! While fighting for peace and justice against the Elevens, he died a martyr! We must all push down our sorrow and carry on his will!"_

_"We've just received new information,"_ the female newscaster announced. _"The man suspected of the murder has been captured. According to the report, the man arrested is an honorary Britannian."_

Lelouch blanched as soon as he saw the person being escorted in cuffs by the Britannian Military Police. _'Could it be?'_

Naruto noted Lelouch's expression with an amused smirk while C.C. merely rolled her eyes in exasperation.

_"The suspect is a former Eleven. Honorary Britannian Suzaku Kururugi!"_

* * *

I know, this is more of a bridge chapter and kind of boring. I promise things will start picking up next chapter, and you're going to love what happens at Narita in the chapter after that. So please bear with me, there will be more chapters like this in the future. So, Kallen is NOT in the pairing, but she will see Naruto and C.C. as her superior officers in the Black Knights, like senpai, and she will get a bit of teasing from the duo.

So please read and review as always and I'll try to put the next chapter out faster, though school starts for me on the 20th so they might be even slower. No promises either way yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto or Code Geass in anyway.

Yes, it is FINALLY here. The Six Paths of Rebellion, chapter 4! I have finally found my inspiration to continue this story. Surprisingly, it came from watching videos of Naruto fighting Pein and Naruto fighting in Kyuubi Chakra Mode on youtube.

I wonder if there are people still following this story after such a long hiatus, but if so, then this chapter is for them.

This chapter is not my best, so I hope I'm forgiven if it lacks a certain level of quality you might have expected.

* * *

Rakshata smiled softly to herself as she finally managed to stand atop the water in the main hall's marble fountain. Naruto and C.C. had been summoned away so unexpectedly, that Naruto had left several scrolls behind. One of them contained the instructions for several different chakra control exercises, all of which she had mastered with the completion of water walking.

The others all focused on anatomy, physiology, medicine, poisons and antidotes, and Iryo ninjutsu, or medical ninjutsu, with an added section on increasing strength with chakra. Rakshata was surprised that she found the subject so interesting. She attributed it to her vast intelligence and desire to constantly increase her own knowledge and skills, whether it was with knightmares, or more recently, with the chakra she now possessed.

The woman who had personally written down the information contained in these scrolls, one Senju Tsunade she noted, proclaimed herself as the greatest Iryo-nin alive, and one day hoped to be surpassed. Initially, Rakshata found such a wish to be illogical until she understood that, if Tsunade were surpassed, it would mean her successor would be able to help and save more people than Tsunade ever could.

Almost from the moment she discovered the scrolls in Naruto's room, she had been going through them with the intent to claim Tsunade's title as the greatest Iryo-nin. Most of the information on herbs and plants that had medicinal properties was useless to her, as she knew for a fact that most of them didn't exist in this world. However, with her eidetic memory and fascination of the subject, it wasn't long before Rakshata had an in-depth knowledge of the human body and could manifest the glowing green medical chakra in her hands at will.

Still, she knew being able to produce it, and being able to _use_ it were two very different things. So, she needed a test subject. Since there hadn't been anyone injured enough to warrant treatment at the time, she purposefully created a situation where one of the knightmare pilots in her employ would walk in on her coming out of the shower with just a towel wrapped around herself as cover.

She had given him a swift and painful beating for being a 'pervert', but took him to the medical wing herself after getting dressed. On her first try at utilizing the medical chakra, Rakshata had been able to take care of the many bruises quite easily, but it had taken her two hours longer than Tsunade had written was normal, for her to heal the man's broken ribs. That was when she realized that she couldn't just put off the last chakra control exercise, water walking, because she was impatient to start utilizing Iryo ninjutsu, which led her to where she was now.

She was going to resume her medical training now that she had mastered water walking, but it was at that point that the shared vision with C.C. and Naruto let her know that her newest and greatest creations were finally engaged in combat with another knightmare instead of just gunships and tanks. And not just a regular Sutherland, but a new, advanced model unlike anything she'd seen from Britannia before.

"Pudding Hakushaku…" Rakshata murmured, aware that the only one other than her who could create an advanced knightmare like that was her rival, Lloyd Asplund.

She walked back through the facility to her research lab and plopped down on the red couch she'd had brought in for her personal use while working. She smirked in amusement as the white and gold knightmare was simply outclassed by Naruto's Seizan. Embarrassingly so, she noticed with pride. However, that bright green shield that had managed to stop Seizan's MVS kunai intrigued her. Ignoring that it was soon rendered useless by the combination of chakra and fukushahado waves coursing through the kunai, the fact of the matter was that it _did_ stop the kunai from piercing straight through.

"Bring me the scanning data from Seizan. I need to see what Lloyd has come up with." Rakshata ordered with a snap of her fingers. Immediately, a nervous scientist started typing commands into the scanning console still getting readings from Seizan and Shinryoku, despite the extreme distance.

The scanners themselves she had integrated into their factsphere sensors, so she would always know whether there was an enemy knightmare that could come close to or, heaven forbid, surpass Seizan and Shinryoku. If the worst should happen, she would take the accumulated data and make any necessary improvements to her children.

The scientist printed out a small stack of papers and brought them to her quickly. Stretching out on the couch, Rakshata took the results and started perusing through them. The white and gold knightmare's power output was enormous, and had Naruto not created Core Radiance already, she might actually be impressed. As it was, Lloyd's toy wasn't even a fraction of what Seizan and Shinryoku were.

When she got to the numbers correlated with that arm-mounted beam shield, she shook her head in disappointment. The amount of energy required to _maintain_ the shields was proportional to the amount of energy being _blocked_ by the shields. Naruto's charged kunai _alone_ would have probably drained the energy filler of that knightmare by more than half. With only a standard Core Luminous powering that knightmare, it couldn't afford to have such drains on its energy filler.

She shifted her focus from the results back to the fight just in time to see Shinryoku enter the battlefield. Rakshata gave herself a mental pat on the back for implementing the Harken Fans as well as she did, and even more so for the forethought to give Shinryoku rotating wrists to complement them.

Rakshata watched the engagement all the way until Seizan had the white knightmare buried up to its head in solid concrete, after which she lost interest. Lloyd was going to have to do much better than that to even put a scratch on her perfect children.

* * *

"Do you know anything about this weapon, Kururugi Suzaku?"

The bruised and beaten Suzaku glanced down at the military pistol on the table, contained within a plastic evidence bag. How did it come to this? Admittedly the skirmish against those two knightmares had been a dismal failure, but to be accused of murdering His Highness, Prince Clovis?

If he actually thought it would have helped his situation in the slightest, Suzaku would have informed them that he'd been piloting the Lancelot and hadn't been anywhere in the vicinity of the crown prince at the time of his murder. But the word of an honorary Britannian was worth nothing to these particular people.

"It was the one used to assassinate Prince Clovis. The barrel striations confirm this." Jeremiah Gottwald continued. "I also took the liberty of investigating your background. You're the son of Japan's last prime minister, aren't you? You had plenty of motive!"

"You've made some sort of mistake! I've never seen that gun in my life!" Suzaku denied vehemently. His chair was suddenly kicked over by another of the purist faction members in the room, sending Suzaku to the floor.

"Your fingerprints are on the gun," Jeremiah stated, holding up the pistol so Kururugi could see from his position on the ground. "You're also suspected of murdering members of the royal guard. Admit it. Do it now and you'll be judged as an honorary Britannian, instead of as an Eleven."

"I didn't do it!" Suzaku denied once more, only to receive a swift and painful kick in the face.

* * *

Lelouch carefully lifted Nunnally out of her wheelchair and helped her sit down on the edge of the bed, before then picking her up and laying her down so he could pull the blankets up over his sister.

"That was Suzaku they mentioned before on the news, wasn't it?" Nunnally asked her brother softly.

"Yeah. It looks like Suzaku's still alive." Lelouch confirmed, tucking her in comfortably.

Nunnally turned to face the direction she heard her brother's voice coming from and frowned sadly. "We've been apart since the war ended. Big brother?"

"What?" Lelouch asked kindly.

"That news wasn't true, was it?" Nunnally asked worriedly.

"It wasn't." Lelouch reassured her. He knew how close Nunnally was to Suzaku. She considered him a second brother, and Lelouch had to admit, he felt the same thing about the boy he'd grown up with. Suzaku was his brother in all but blood. "Suzaku would never do anything like that. It's some kind of mistake."

Nunnally smiled as she started drifting off to sleep, her right hand reaching out for and grasping Lelouch's left hand. "Yes… it must be."

"Good night Nunnally." Lelouch turned off the slight and walked out of her room, making sure to shut the door with as little noise as possible. That was when he noticed Naruto and C.C. leaning on either side of the door. "How much did you two hear?"

"We're going to save him, aren't we?" Naruto asked knowingly.

C.C. merely tilted her head to glance at Lelouch from the corner of her purple eye.

Lelouch sighed quietly, moving away from Nunnally's room and into the living room so his sister would not wake up and overhear them. "Yes, we're going to retrieve Suzaku." Lelouch confirmed. "However, we won't do anything until they decide to move him."

"What makes you so sure they won't just execute him?" Naruto asked curiously, as he and C.C. followed Lelouch into the living room. Had someone actually managed to assassinate Tsunade, despite how impossible that might seem, the one responsible would've been killed on the spot. After they found out who sent the assassin first, of course.

"They believe Suzaku killed a member of the Britannian royal family. They'll want to make an example out of him to gain political sway. Jeremiah Gottwald is part of the purist faction, a group of Britannians who believe that only pureblood Britannians should be allowed to serve in the military." Lelouch explained as he dropped down into the black leather armchair exhaustedly.

"There was never a high chance that they'd succeed in having the honorary Britannian program shut down, but if they can pin the murder of a viceroy on an Eleven turned honorary Britannian…" Lelouch trailed off.

"…There will be no other option _but_ to have the program disbanded." C.C. concluded, receiving a nod from Lelouch.

"When will they move him?" Naruto inquired.

"Most likely, after the memorial service to honor Clovis." Lelouch responded, after thinking through several different scenarios that could arise from moving Suzaku earlier or later than he suspected. "That would be the day I'm to meet Kallen and the other terrorists. So, if we can successfully rescue Suzaku, I think they'll be more likely to join me."

* * *

Lloyd sighed in frustration and shook his head, as the engineers were only _just_ starting to attach the Lancelot's replacement hands. Neither the Blaze Luminous shields nor the factsphere sensors had been repaired yet, and Cecile had _advised_ him to integrate a cockpit ejection system before he even thought about drawing up designs and plans to improve the Lancelot's combat abilities.

"We've lost our most essential part," Lloyd said disappointedly.

"Can't we do without him?" Cecile asked.

"I wish," Lloyd replied. "We can't get a replacement pilot for honor or money, and even if we could, they wouldn't get readings like he did."

"Eh? Readings like Suzaku?" Cecile asked in confusion. Lloyd was extremely possessive with his Lancelot data, and practically hoarded it all to himself, revealing only what he felt was necessary for others to know. Naturally this included the Lancelot's performance rate with Suzaku piloting the prototype KMF.

"Didn't I tell you?" Lloyd asked. "He had an operation efficiency of 94%! How do we replace that?" Lloyd suddenly had a strong desire to know the performance rates of the pilots whom Rakshata had entrusted those two unique knightmares with. Though a part of him already suspected, to his disappointment and frustration, that their numbers would surpass those of Kururugi Suzaku. Perhaps even a perfect synchronization.

"Then you should tell them so they'll release Suzaku!" Cecile said.

"He's an honorary Britannian, right?" Lloyd asked rhetorically. "Since General Bartley's disgrace, the Purebloods have been in control of the military. According to them, the guilty party can't be from the Britannian military. But if the criminal is an Eleven, they'll accept Margrave Jeremiah's demands and shut down the entire system of granting Elevens the status of honorary Britannian."

"And what about Suzaku?" Cecile asked, worry clearly evident in her voice.

"I doubt there's any way he'll be found innocent," Lloyd stated bluntly. Personally, he didn't particularly care either way, but Kururugi Suzaku was the first pilot that had the potential to make his Lancelot perform to its full capabilities. It would be a shame to lose such talent.

* * *

"This looks like a good spot, Naruto."

"Yeah, I think you're right. Close enough, but still hidden from view." Naruto pulled off his right glove, and slapped his palm against the brick wall in the alleyway just two blocks from Tokyo Tower. When he removed his hand, there was a jutsu-shiki, the technique formula for the Hiraishin, emblazoned on the bricks.

It would only last for 24 hours, but since the meeting with Kallen was tomorrow at 4, it would last long enough to suit their needs and he wouldn't have to leave one of his Hiraishin kunai behind. He checked his watch and saw it was almost 6:00 PM. "Well, with that done, we still have the rest of the evening to enjoy ourselves. Courtesy of Lelouch," Naruto said, holding up a credit card between his fingers that he'd swiped from Lelouch's wallet.

C.C. smirked utilizing the Henge no jutsu to transform herself into a young Britannian woman with long flowing auburn hair and light green eyes, wearing a simple pair of navy blue jeans and a forest green jacket. "Are you offering to take me out for a night on the town, dear?"

Naruto flicked his fingers, sending the credit card straight up into the air, thus freeing his hands to mimic her actions, and use the Henge no jutsu. When the resulting cloud of smoke dispersed, Naruto now appeared to be a regal-looking Britannian man with smooth black hair, but kept the same ocean-blue eyes. He was wearing an unbuttoned black and red jacket, beneath which he wore a plain black shirt, with long black jeans to match. He held out his right hand, palm up, and caught the descending credit card between his pointer and middle fingers. "How could I not spoil you, my love?"

C.C. chuckled and looped her arms around Naruto's left, as the two of them headed away from the alley and boarded the monorail to Clovisland, probably the only amusement park left in all of Japan. By the time they arrived, the sun had set, and the bright lights of the amusement park offered a brilliant contrast to the surrounding darkness.

Right at the entrance was a machine to convert credit into cash, which allowed Naruto to receive $500 worth of currency specific to Area 11. Each bill in the stack had the face of the, now former, viceroy, Prince Clovis. Upon walking in, the first thing C.C. dragged him to was a dart toss game where the top prize was a Cheese-kun plush doll, as this booth was sponsored by Pizza Hut.

Shaking his head in amusement, Naruto paid the man behind the counter and was handed five darts. Without hesitation, he tossed all five darts towards the target at once, landing four in a circle on the bull's eye with the fifth landing in the exact center. It was almost unfair how much of an advantage he had at a game like this, he thought, as he received the Cheese-kun doll and gave it to C.C.

Oh, who was he kidding? It was _totally_ unfair.

"I love it. Thank you, N…Nicholas." C.C. said with honest gratitude, only just managing to avoid revealing Naruto's Japanese name and replacing it for one that a Britannian might have. She leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the lips, before wrapping her free arm around his left and dragging him off to try some of the rides, now that she had gotten the only prize she wanted.

The two of them spent the rest of their time at Clovisland enjoying themselves on the numerous rides, sampling the food, and finally ended up on the Ferris wheel to end their enjoyable time. By this point, it was already nearing midnight, the time when the park would close, so almost everyone had already gone home except for them. As their car stopped at the very top of the Ferris wheel, they were treated to a gorgeous sight of the full moon shining down over the dwindling lights of the amusement park. By mutual consent, they'd decided to drop the henge and enjoy the sight as themselves.

"Naruto... what do want to do?" C.C. asked the blonde to her right.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, looking down at her as she pressed up against his side, and set her head down on his shoulder.

"We're planning on starting a war with Britannia, to destroy them and remove their influence from other countries. But, what about after that? What will there be left for you to do once we've accomplished that goal?" C.C. clarified. When she didn't receive an immediate response, she glanced up at him, only to see him smiling warmly at her.

"Well, I suppose that depends on you, Cecile." Naruto said, speaking her real name with such tenderness and love, that C.C. couldn't help but blush. "I believe, that I have a promise to uphold, a promise to stay by your side forever, never to leave you alone by choice or by death."

Cecile hummed in thought, taking his words into consideration. The decision was hers to make apparently, and he would abide by whatever she chose. As she thought about different options, each one discarded as easily as its predecessor, there was only one that she could not forget; one that caused a feeling of warmth to spread inside her chest and just felt _right_. "What if… what if we started a family?"

Naruto blinked in surprise, looking down at Cecile, who met his gaze anxiously. "You mean… children?"

Cecile nodded without answering, still staring into Naruto's eyes.

"That… sounds nice," Naruto admitted, with a slowly forming smile on his face. It seemed so hard to imagine at this point, actually settling down and starting a family and having kids of his own. Sure, he once assumed it would happen at some point after becoming Hokage, but that changed after he gained the Rinnegan. After the 4th Shinobi War had started, he had just abandoned the idea altogether. Even had he survived to see the war's end, he wouldn't have wanted to outlive his wife and children.

Cecile however, would never die before him through natural means. And his modified Rinnegan's unity aspect had integrated the eyes as a full Uzumaki dojutsu. Without wanting to get his hopes up, he had to believe that any of his children who could manifest the Rinnegan, would also not die through natural means either. "How many were you thinking?"

"Two." Cecile answered immediately. "One daughter and one son."

Naruto was now imagining a little green-haired girl with ocean-blue eyes, and a taller blonde-haired boy with deep yellow eyes, both proudly showing off their new Rinnegan to their parents. "Have you thought about their names?"

"Kushina and Minato," she again replied without hesitation.

Naruto smiled. That meant she had only started thinking about this sometime after he had told Rakshata his story. He actually felt comforted by the thought of him being the first man Cecile had considered having children with.

"Is that a wish you must have fulfilled, or a promise you intend for me to keep?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." C.C. responded, sliding a hand behind Naruto's neck and pulling him down into a loving, yet passionate, kiss. When her other hand gripped the front of his jacket urgently, Naruto got the message and used Hiraishin once more to bring them back to Lelouch's dorm, where the other nine kunai were still stored in their room.

* * *

"Lelouch, what are you up to later?" Rivalz asked, clasping his friend's shoulder as they stopped on the way back from the assembly honoring the death of Prince Clovis. "We shouldn't waste a day off from classes, and people have been asking for a rematch…"

"Don't you dare go gambling!" Shirley chided the two teens fiercely.

"Gimme a break!" Rivalz said, understandably scared of an upset Shirley Fenette.

"She's right. I'm through with that," Lelouch said, surprising both Shirley and Rivalz, though for different reasons. "I've found a better opponent."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Shirley asked in confusion, though she was at least happy that Lulu would finally stop gambling. She kept worrying that one day those nobles he played against wouldn't just accept their defeat.

"Then let me in on it too!" Rivalz requested eagerly. Anything Lelouch found more interesting than winning money from rich nobles in chess _had_ to be really fun!

"It's probably better you didn't. It's not your sort of game," Lelouch said, holding back a laugh at the thought of Rivalz actually participating in the fight against Britannia. He spotted Kallen walking past them towards the academy's exit and glanced at his phone. It was already 3:00. By now, his package would have been delivered to his dorm, where Naruto and C.C. were waiting for him to return before they made their way to Tokyo Tower. "Sorry, I've got to go. I have an appointment to keep."

Rivalz and Shirley blinked as Lelouch walked past them toward the dorm he shared with Nunnally, but shook off his behavior. This wasn't the first time Lelouch had acted strange or secretive, and they were betting it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

"His Highness's memorial program was handled very well," Jeremiah praised the man standing before him. "A bit too weepy for my tastes, but…"

"Your Excellency, the masses enjoy a tearjerker." Diethard Ried, the producer and member of the press staff at Hi-TV, defended.

"Spoken like a true TV man." Jeremiah remarked in a way that could be taken as a compliment or an insult. "Still, I acknowledge your skills. You did well in the short time you had. One would almost think you were expecting His Highness to die."

Diethard bowed slightly in deference to the Margrave. "I'm afraid it's quite common to have memorial programs prepared for important people," he explained.

"For me as well?" Jeremiah asked in amusement.

"After this, we may make one for you, Your Excellency." Diethard said.

Jeremiah nodded, having expected that answer. "Meaning I wasn't important enough to warrant one until now. How honest of you."

Diethard wasn't sure whether the Margrave was insulted, angry, or appreciative of the honesty, as the man kept his emotions and feelings hidden quite well. He could respect that. "I'm afraid so.

"Feel like joining the military? We have a need for information officers." Jeremiah offered. Men of Diethard's caliber didn't come along too often. His penchant for respectfully speaking the truth, yet ignoring how it might affect the other person, was something sorely lacking in many of the soldiers. They were all yes-men, and it was nigh impossible to receive an answer without having one's ass kissed first.

Diethard respectfully shook his head. "I'm afraid that I'm not up to the job. It's not for me."

"You prefer a civilian network?" Jeremiah asked. A shame, but he didn't hold it against the man. Diethard was serving Britannia in his own way. "No matter. I have another favor to ask of you. Tonight, Kururugi Suzaku will be transferred to his court martial."

Diethard narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind already jumping ahead to where the Margrave was leading him. "We'll get a lot of patriotic Britannians to line the roadside."

"It's helpful that you catch on so quickly." Jeremiah turned to his left where Villetta Nu, the one person he trusted the most in the purist faction, was standing. "Be sure his face can be seen clearly in the envoy."

Villetta frowned slightly. "Lord Jeremiah, there are some among the Elevens who have made Private Kururugi out to be a hero. Some groups may even be thinking of freeing him."

"I'll be providing security personally in my Sutherland." Jeremiah reassured her. He had already suspected something along those lines for himself, but he appreciated the warning nonetheless. "If any troublemakers show up, I'll execute them on the spot!"

* * *

Lelouch closed and locked the door behind him as he quickly made his way to his room. There, sitting on his bed, were two ordinary brown boxes. The first was a thick square box, while the second was a long rectangular box. Opening the second box first, he found the new suit and cloak he'd had custom tailored for his activities as Zero. An appearance that would both inspire his allies and terrify Britannia.

It consisted of a tight dark purple suit with golden stripes and long, wrapped sleeves. The sleek bodysuit was elegant but practical. Worn over the bodysuit, was a black and gold cloak with crimson spandex inside and an enormous black cape encircling the head. He took the opportunity to try it on and smiled as it fit him perfectly, though he honestly expected nothing less.

Then he took the last box and opened it up. Almost reverently, he lifted up the spiky black and indigo mask and inspected it thoroughly. The special material that the visor was made from, was dark indigo and appeared opaque from the outside, but was actually transparent from the inside. As per his specifications and measurements, a small slit perfectly level with his left eye, could be opened up from inside the mask by pressing a button with his chin.

Lelouch slid the helmet on over his head, feeling the sections extend over the top to keep it in place, and conceal his hair when combined with the high collar of his suit. He took a moment to inspect himself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction at what he saw. This would suit him perfectly. He checked his phone again and saw it was 3:30. He had to hurry, or he'd never get the preparations done before Kallen arrived.

He removed the suit and donned some casual, yet comfortable, clothes he could wear beneath the suit without problems. He stored the suit and helmet in a silver briefcase he had bought in preparation, and walked out to the living room. Unsurprisingly, Naruto and C.C. were already there, eating a steaming hot bowl of ramen and a large cheese pizza respectively. Bought with his credit card, he assumed. Naruto always managed to get it out of his wallet without him noticing. "We need to get moving so I can set things up for our meeting with the terrorists."

Naruto picked up the bowl and noisily slurped down the remaining broth, before standing up. He was wearing the same black and gray armor that Lelouch had first seen him in during the events at Shinjuku, only this time Naruto was also wearing a gray cloak with a hood to hide his blonde hair and had just slid on a white mask with red lines decorating it. It resembled an animal's face, and if Lelouch had to guess, it looked like a fox. "While you were busy working with the student council yesterday, C.C. and I went downtown and checked out the tower for ourselves. I can get you down there immediately, so you'll have plenty of time to prepare."

C.C. finished the last slice of her pizza and also donned a white mask. Hers was distinctly avian in appearance, and Lelouch believed it was either a crow or a raven. Like Naruto, she was wearing a set of black and gray armor beneath the gray cloak, which perfectly concealed her bright green hair. "One thing before we go. Naruto and I have been discussing the matter, and we both believe you should inform these terrorists about your Geass."

"What?" Lelouch asked in shock. "Are you two insane? What possible benefit could come from revealing such a powerful weapon to people who haven't even become my allies yet?"

"Your Geass has the power to issue absolute orders which cannot be disobeyed. That's _not_ a power you want your allies finding out about on their own. They'll start jumping to conclusions, and if they believe you've been manipulating or controlling them, they'll turn on you faster than you can count to zero." C.C. warned.

"You have to let them realize that they're following you of their own free will, and that they don't have to wonder whether your Geass will be used on them. If they ask to see your face, you can claim you're keeping your mask on to show you're sincere in earning their trust." Naruto added on.

Lelouch frowned, as he started weighing the pros and cons of doing as Naruto and C.C. advised in his mind, and was slightly annoyed that there were more pros to revealing the existence of his Geass than there were cons. "How will they believe me when I tell them I haven't already used my Geass on them?"

"Simple," C.C. said. "Tell them it requires eye contact, and that it induces memory gaps. You're already taking steps to prevent the former, and they'll already know for themselves if they have the latter."

"But Kallen will know I've used my Geass on her then!" Lelouch countered.

"Maybe, maybe not." C.C. said with a shrug. "You didn't keep her under for very long, and as soon as she was released, she heard you talk about Shinjuku. Considering how obsessed she was with you after hearing that, I have to wonder if she even knows there's a gap in her memory. What she remembers before having your Geass used on her, and what happened after she was released, are connected."

"What do you mean, connected?" Lelouch asked in clarification.

"She remembers you walking up to her, then seemingly changing your mind and walking away while telling her not to say anything about Shinjuku. That could have really happened within the span of a few seconds." C.C. explained patiently. "So long as you don't issue any commands to them from here on out, I think you'll be fine."

"Just keep it in mind. For now, we should get going." Naruto said impatiently. He grabbed both Lelouch and C.C. by the arms and used the Hiraishin no Jutsu, causing the three of them to disappear in a flash of bright yellow light.

* * *

As soon as he landed on solid ground, Lelouch stumbled forward and would have fallen if he hadn't been steadied by Naruto. They were in an alleyway just outside the massive tower. Written on the wall to his left was a line of Japanese text he couldn't read, which was starting to fade away. Checking his phone, he saw it was almost 3:40 now. He wanted to know how Naruto had just transported them halfway across the city, but knew it would have to wait.

"Here. Bring this to the lost and found." Lelouch said, handing Naruto a disposable cell phone. "I'll board one of the tram lines and ensure we'll have some privacy for our discussion."

"Are you going to do as we suggested?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, taking the cell phone and putting it into his pocket as both he and C.C. used henge to change appearances, now resembling the Britannians they had been last night.

"I don't like it, but I'm smart enough to understand it will only help in the long run, whatever my feelings on the matter." Lelouch grudgingly admitted. "You'll need to regroup with me after I make the call. Can you do that?"

Naruto pulled out a tri-pronged kunai and handed it to Lelouch, handle first. "Here. When you need us, just toss this to the ground. It'll draw us to you like a beacon."

Lelouch's keen mind instantly deduced what would happen, and pocketed the weapon safely. "Got it. I'll see you in twenty minutes."

The three of them parted ways to accomplish their respective tasks, knowing that this would officially mark the beginning of their path towards Britannia's destruction.

* * *

"_The overwhelming victory of Britannia made the unenlightened former government of Japan well aware of their true rank in the world. Since then, the empire and Area Eleven have joined hands and begun to walk the road towards revival."_

Kallen had to force herself not to appear furious. In public like this, she was Kallen Stadtfeld, a patriotic Britannian citizen who wholly approved of Britannia's actions. She hated the fact that she had to allow this part of herself to exist, but Kozuki Kallen was far more limited in the things she could do and the places she could go.

Tokyo Tower, once a symbol of pride and joy for the Japanese people, was converted into the Britannian Victory Memorial Center, a museum commemorating the Britannian victory during the occupation of Japan. Everywhere she looked, there were pictures of Britannian soldiers and Glasgows in battle, locations throughout the country that had been damaged or destroyed by the war, and Britannia's victories, because they would not dare commemorate the battles where the Japanese had been fighting back successfully.

It all sickened her.

She saw movement in her peripheral vision, and knew it was Ohgi, Kento, and Toru following in after her. They all suspected this was a trap, even if this man's interference had saved their lives in Shinjuku. It was for that alone, that they would at least hear him out. Never would it be said that the Japanese would leave a debt unpaid, whether to this man for saving them or to Britannia for stripping them of their heritage.

The only other people on the ground floor of the tower besides them, was a Britannian couple, casually observing one of the antique AA guns Japan had tried to use against the original Glasgows. Kallen could have sworn she saw the couple glance in her direction for a moment, but when she blinked, they were once again looking at the weapon, as if their eyes had never moved.

'_Tokyo Tower, 4:00. Why here, of all places?'_

* * *

"It was Kururugi Suzaku who contacted us, right?" Kento asked the other two in a hushed tone.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Ohgi said, as the three of them moved over to a glass display case, and feigned interest in the pictures contained inside.

"But, he might have been arrested after he called Kallen," Toru said.

"Then this place is too dangerous for us to stay," Kento remarked.

Before anything more could be said on the subject, a loud ring sounded through the speakers, catching the attention of everyone on the floor. "Miss Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford Academy, a lost item has been turned in for you. Please come to the service counter on the observation deck."

Ohgi, Kento, and Toru all widened their eyes in surprise and glanced to their left where they knew Kallen had been standing, only to find her missing. They headed over to the elevators as quickly as they could without seeming suspicious, completely oblivious to the Britannian couple who had been smiling and waving at them jovially, and hit the button for the third floor, hoping to catch up with Kallen before anything happened.

* * *

"You're sure this is yours?"

Kallen picked up the cell phone from the woman's outstretched hands, and glanced at it. It was brand new, and a top of the line model too. Written on the back was her name and Ashford Academy. Whoever this man was, he certainly knew how to plan ahead. She kept staring at the phone in her hand intensely, as if it would eventually reveal the identity of their savior on its own.

"It's yours, isn't it?" The woman asked again in confirmation.

Kallen shook her head lightly, snapping out of her thoughts and looked up at the woman with a weak smile. "Y-Yes! Thank you so much." She walked away from the counter slowly, and found herself standing in front of the window where several sets of mounted binoculars were located. When she heard the voices of Ohgi and the others, she left out a soft sigh of relief. She hoped they weren't mad at her for rushing on ahead alone, but she _really_ wanted to know who this man was.

Suddenly, the phone in her hand let her know there was an incoming call. It had been set on vibrate as well, to avoid attracting attention through a loud ring. The caller ID labeled the other caller ZERO. Not wanting to wait any longer, she gave a sidelong glance at Ohgi and saw him nod. She returned the gesture anxiously, and answered the call. "Yes? Hello?"

"_Ride the outer tracks of loop line #5. Bring your friends." _

"Eh? Wait—" Kallen exclaimed, only for the call to hang up immediately. He knew. He knew that Ohgi and the others were affiliated with her, and that meant he had been watching them somehow. She scanned around the observation deck discretely, then mentally berated herself for being foolish. This man, Zero she reminded herself, would not have called her from the same floor, where he might be caught. If anything, this man was at one of the stops along loop line #5, waiting for them to arrive.

She informed Ohgi, Kento, and Toru of the situation, and the three of them briskly made their way out of the tower, heading towards the station.

It was time to meet Zero.

* * *

Lelouch chuckled as he hung up the phone and stepped into the conductor's monorail car. He waited until the doors had closed in all of the other passenger cars before clearing his throat.

"Obey my commands!" Lelouch commanded with his Geass active just as the conductor turned around. Lelouch smiled in satisfaction as the familiar sight of a red ring around the man's pupil appeared. "You will shut down all cameras on this line, forget having ever seen me, and ignore everything you might see or hear coming from the passenger cars."

"I understand." The red ring faded, and the conductor turned around, prepping the monorail to leave the station, completely oblivious to Lelouch as he then made his way through the other passenger cars and ordered everyone inside to ignore everything going on around them and to sit perfectly still and silent, unless he ordered them to do something differently.

He opened up the silver briefcase he'd brought along, and donned his Zero suit over his regular clothes, before stashing the empty case beneath one of the bench seats. "Now, all that's left to do is…" Lelouch pulled out the dagger Naruto had given him and tossed it to the ground, though with his meager strength, it looked as if he had just dropped it accidentally.

Luckily, it seemed that was enough, as the two forms of his advisers and ace pilots appeared before him in a flash of golden light. Seeing it firsthand like this was much more impressive than experiencing it, he concluded. Naruto and C.C. dropped their Britannian disguises and now stood behind Lelouch on either side in their masked and cloaked ensembles. "Everything is ready for their arrival."

Naruto glanced around, but Lelouch simply tapped the left side of his helmet, knowing that Naruto was wondering if it was safe to talk this openly.

"How are you planning to free Suzaku? Should C.C. and I just go in with Seizan and Shinryoku and take him by force?"

Lelouch shook his head negative. "Such an act won't inspire much confidence in me. I need to show, not only these terrorists, but _all_ the Japanese people that Zero can make the impossible, possible. I need to prove I can be a leader worthy of their hope and trust."

* * *

"_Attention all passengers. If you see a suspicious item aboard this train, please report it at once via the nearest intercom."_

Kallen looked around, as she and the others boarded the very last car. Were it not for the automated messages playing through the speakers, the monorail would be devoid of all sound and noise. All of the passengers were sitting perfectly still and silent, staring at their laps like living statues. Not a single one so much as lifted their head when she and the others entered.

It was starting to worry her.

Because every available seat was taken, She, Ohgi, Kento and Toru were the only ones left standing. Even though it appeared their presence wasn't garnering interest, the four of them still spread out across the car, acting as if it was just coincidence they'd entered together.

Kallen nearly jumped when the phone in her hand rang once more, but quickly answered it again after a quick confirmation that it was Zero again. "Hello?"

Ohgi narrowed his eyes as he strained his ears to listen in on the conversation. He was the closest one to Kallen without being directly next to her, but because she would be talking relatively softly, he had to really focus to discern her words.

"_Face forward and look to your right. What do you see?"_

Kallen did as she was told, and frowned, seeing the 'new and improved' portion of Tokyo. "The Britannians' city. A stolen city, built on our sacrifices."

"_Now look left."_

"I see our city. The city made by Britannia squeezing us dry." Kallen answered, taking in the ruined remains of other half of the city. The half that had been left in shambles and ruins as a testament to the defeat of Japan.

"_Good answer. All right, come to the first car."_

Kallen's eyes widened as Zero suddenly hung up on her again. He was here! On the same train as her and the others! She started moving through the car towards the connecting door to the next. Ohgi, Kento, and Toru abandoned all pretense of anonymity and followed after her immediately, spotting more passengers in the same state as the previous.

In fact, _every_ car they passed through had passengers who would neither move nor make a sound. The difference being that as they got closer to the front, the cars became more crowded, which made it worse as the standing passengers who were bumped or nudged reacted the same way as the passengers who were sitting.

Not at all.

When they finally got through to the first car, Kallen gasped. It was completely empty, save for three people at the other end, all of which had their backs towards her. There were subtle movements that let her know these three were aware of their entrance unlike the passengers, but did not turn around. She focused her attention on the figure in the middle, the most likely one to be Zero. "Was it you? Tell us! Are you three the ones who helped us fight in Shinjuku? Was the cease-fire order your doing, too?"

As the monorail entered a tunnel, shrouding the car in darkness, the three figures suddenly spun around, with the two at the sides taking a step back so the one in the middle was in front.

Kallen and the others gasped. All three were wearing masks. The two at the sides were wearing white and red animal masks, with dark eye holes that couldn't be seen into from this distance. The movement of spinning around caused the cloaks surrounding them to flutter up slightly, allowing her to see that they each carried a sword on their person. And not just any sword, but Japanese blades. That reassured her a bit.

The man in the middle was wearing a dark mask that intimidated her at first glance. His entire body was covered by a high-collared black cloak that framed him like a set of folded wings. She couldn't help but compare him to a hawk preparing to strike, or a bat waiting in the shadows.

"Yes, you may know me as Zero. With me are my personal knights, Seizan and Shinryoku." Lelouch answered, gesturing towards Naruto and C.C. respectively.

Ohgi, Kento, and Toru lost some of the stiffness in their shoulders at those code names. They were distinctly Japanese names, and meaningful ones at that. Names they didn't believe a Britannian would know or care to go looking for.

"What were your impressions of the tour of this settlement?" Lelouch asked them, smiling behind his mask. Naruto and C.C. had once again proven their worth as his… war advisers, by suggesting that they actually be introduced by their knightmare names to the terrorists. That familiarity those names produced, had helped to ease and lower the terrorists' guard.

"Tour?" Ohgi asked in confusion.

"I wanted you to have a true appreciation of them. Of the settlement, and the ghetto!" Lelouch declared, gesturing with his arms at the two differing cities.

Kallen glanced at Ohgi, who nodded and took a step forward. "Yes, there's a difference between us and the Britannians! A desperate difference! That's why we fight as the resistance!"

"You're wrong." Lelouch denied. "Terrorism will not defeat Britannia!"

"Defeat?" Ohgi muttered, unable to believe such a thing was possible. A battle in the ghettos was one thing, but the nation as a whole?

"Terrorism is merely a childish nuisance." Lelouch continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"What was that?!" Kento exclaimed angrily.

"Are you saying we're nothing more than kids?" Toru asked.

"Don't mistake your enemy. It isn't the Britannian people, but Britannia itself!" Lelouch declared. "What you need is to fight a war! Without involving the civilians! Attacking the civilians of the nation amounts to nothing more than simple terrorism, and only helps Britannia rally the people against you, against your cause! Do you not see? It is the empire_ itself_ that is corrupt, and must be toppled before Japan and all the other territories can be free. Make up your minds now! Follow me, and take the path of righteousness!"

Kallen scowled at the nerve of this man, to talk down to them like that. "Don't be absurd! It's easy to _say_ whatever you want, but it means nothing unless you have the ability to back it up! How could we trust someone who won't even show us his face!"

"She's right!" Kento agreed fiercely.

"Take off the mask!" Toru ordered.

"I hide my face for your protection," Lelouch calmly informed them. He glanced at Naruto and C.C. from inside his mask, and saw them nod subtly. "I am in possession of a power that allows me to issue commands to people, commands that cannot be disobeyed."

Kallen felt a chill run down her spine. "Stop lying. There's no way such a power could exist!"

"Oh no?" Lelouch asked. "Tell me, did any of the other passengers make any noise or even acknowledge your presence as you made your way to this car? Did any of them even move?"

The four self-proclaimed resistance members glanced at each other in shock and alarm, understanding dawning on their faces. "Y-You… you commanded them not to move?" Ohgi finally managed to ask.

"I commanded them to ignore everything they see and hear, and to remain perfectly still and silent." Lelouch explained. "I also used this power on former viceroy Clovis so he would declare a ceasefire in the Shinjuku ghettos." That was a lie, but not only would it show them that this power could help, it would also start pulling them away from thoughts of how this power might be used to manipulate and hurt.

"How do we know you're not using it on us now?" Kento asked suspiciously.

"This power requires eye contact. I can see your eyes through this mask, but so long as the same can not be said about you, I can not use my Geass on you." Lelouch said, placating the man significantly. "Furthermore, there is a side effect of slight memory loss. If you have been affected, you will have a gap in your memory that you cannot fill."

Kallen frowned, as there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that those words should mean something to her, but she couldn't come up with a reason. Maybe the thought of that power, Geass, scared her so much, that she _wanted_ there to be a reason to mistrust Zero and decline his offer.

"So, you're wearing the mask to try and _earn_ our trust." Ohgi stated in realization. He both appreciated the effort and disliked that it was necessary. He wouldn't want to see Zero's identity for the risk of being commanded to do something against his will. "None of us have any memory gaps, and you saved countless lives with that ceasefire order. But… you murdered Clovis afterwards, didn't you? And you framed Kururugi Suzaku for it."

Lelouch shook his head and held up a hand, forestalling the inevitable comments that would come from their incorrect conclusion. "I did kill Clovis, but he more than deserved his death. The responsibility for the assault on the Shinjuku ghettos can be laid solely at his feet. Having fought there, I'm sure you can give me a better estimate of how many innocent lives were lost because of his actions."

Kallen narrowed her eyes and clenched her right fist. _'Too many…'_

"But… I did not frame Kururugi Suzaku for my actions. That was the doing of one Jeremiah Gottwald, a member of the purist faction and one of the most vocal denouncers of the honorary Britannian system." Lelouch informed Ohgi. "To him, Kururugi Suzaku is a tool to further his ambitions to have the system abolished."

"And if that happens…" Kallen trailed off, her eyes hardening in understanding, her teeth clenching in disgust. "Then those citizens fortunate enough to have earned the right to live in the settlement…"

"…will have the lives they worked so hard to earn, torn from them by force." Lelouch finished. "They may even be arrested or executed for believing themselves to be the equals of Britannians."

Ohgi remained silent, as he took in the vast influx of knowledge Zero had just revealed to them. Every doubt they had thrown at Zero, he had rebuffed with logic or actual proof. It really did seem like Zero wanted to help them, but he couldn't just trust the man so easily. "Tell me, are those two beside you under the influence of your Geass? Were they angry Japanese patriots or soldiers you commanded to serve you loyally?"

Lelouch chuckled in amusement. He saw that this was drawing a negative reaction from the four, and so managed to cut himself off. "Forgive me, but the idea that I could command either of these two against their will is amusing. No, Seizan and Shinryoku are the only ones _immune_ to the power of Geass, and even have the ability to remove its effects from others. Consider it added insurance if you ever doubt my word, that my allies will be protected from this power."

That did a lot to reassure Ohgi. "After what I've seen and heard, I'm finding it hard to doubt you. But that doesn't mean I can just trust you at face value."

"I would have a very low opinion of your leadership if you did," Lelouch assured him. "If you desire proof of my commitment, I shall give it to you. I shall show you that the impossible is possible, and free Kururugi Suzaku from the clutches of the Britannian military tonight."

* * *

"He killed the Britannian Prince! Kururugi Suzaku should be treated as a hero!"

"But he's an honorary Britannian!"

"Isn't he the son of the late Prime Minister Kururugi?"

"You mean the man who gave up Japan! The people don't know that about him!"

The argument over between General Katase Tatewaki and Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe Josui over whether to aid Kururugi Suzaku, had been going back and forth for more than an hour now, with many of the JLF members in the room moving to stand behind the man they believed to be right. The only one who had not taken a side was Lieutenant Colonel Tohdoh Kyoshirou, also known as Kiseki no Tohdoh.

"The Shinjuku incident was the work of Kozuki's group, wasn't it?" Katase asked.

"Yes, General." Kusakabe confirmed. "They're currently led by a man named Ohgi."

"Your thoughts, Tohdoh?" Katase asked, turning to face the highly decorated war hero who was kneeling at the front of the room, his personal katana lying in front of him.

Tohdoh remained silent, contemplating the situation carefully. He had to think of the situation as a member of the JLF and not as Kururugi Suzaku's former instructor. For a crime as severe as Kururugi was being charged with, the Britannian security around the prisoner transport would be quite high. His choice was clear. "We have no duty to join him in a public execution."

"Such cowardice!" Kusakabe exclaimed. "Are you really the one they call Kiseki no Tohdoh?"

"You shouldn't confuse a miracle with foolishness!" Tohdoh countered. "Our duty is towards the liberation of Japan as a whole. Kururugi Suzaku made his choice to join the Britannian military. Let him accept the consequences of his actions."

* * *

"_Any moment. Any moment now! Just look at the crowds lining the route. All of them, waiting! Waiting for the man accused of killing Prince Clovis! Waiting for honorary Britannian Kururugi Suzaku to pass by! Waiting for the former Eleven!"_

"Camera 5's slow. Charles, have you got the crowd set up?" Standing by inside the Channel 5 HI-TV van, was Diethard Reid, the man personally assigned to capture this entire spectacle on camera for the public. He had personally put the word out for the people to gather along the route and had cameramen interspersed in the crowds to get the best shots. "Huh? The studio? Let them wait. There's no delay. Everything's going as planned. Here he comes…"

"_I… I can see it! It's Kururugi, the suspect!" _

Coming down the main road from the viceroy's palace now, was the prisoner transport surrounded by four Sutherlands.

"There, you see?" Diethard clicked off his mic and let out a sigh as the smile was wiped off his face instantly. "This sham… I'm as corrupt as any of them."

"Murderer!"

"Scum!"

"Damned Eleven!"

"We want our prince back!"

"_Voices of resentment! Voices of anger, growing louder! Voices giving proof of the love the prince's people had for him! Righteous voices which judge the terrorist!"_

Jeremiah allowed himself a smirk, enjoying the resounding cries of the people that filled the air as they passed by. Things were going just as he expected. With this much public support, the goals of the purist faction would be assured.

"_Acting consul Jeremiah!"_

"What is it?" Jeremiah snapped at the man contacting him through the emergency only channel.

"_Vehicle approaching the main highway from Third Street. We let it pass as instructed, but…"_

Now Jeremiah understood why the man had contacted him. "Do you believe your target is a terrorist vehicle?"

"_Well, sir… it's Prince Clovis's car."_

"The prince's?" Jeremiah frowned. Whoever was heading this way in the prince's personal car was making a statement, a challenge. Well, he would meet that challenge head on. "Let him through to us! All forces, halt!" Jeremiah signaled, holding up his right hand.

The prisoner transport and the four knightmares on protective detail all came to a halt in the middle of the road.

* * *

"They stopped! They really did!" Ohgi exclaimed in surprise. The other resistance members gathered around the TV in the warehouse they based themselves out of, also expressed varying degrees of shock and amazement. Except for one.

"Heh! It was just a coincidence!" Tamaki dismissed easily.

"But, Zero predicted Jeremiah would do that because he likes being the center of attention…" Ohgi reminded him.

"Coincidence!" Tamaki retorted irritatedly. "It's bad enough we have this guy waiting around with us, we don't need _you_ taking their side too, Ohgi!"

Waiting in the shadows, was the fox-masked Seizan, who Zero had insisted accompany them back to their base of operations. He claimed it would help facilitate their escape, so Ohgi had relented and agreed.

Naruto's kage bunshin had its hands hidden beneath the cloak, waiting patiently for the signal as it focused on the screen.

* * *

'_This isn't going to work. We're going to be killed.'_ Kallen thought frantically, as she slowly drove the car up the street towards the waiting knightmares.

Jeremiah easily spotted the personal car of Prince Clovis making its way towards them from the opposite end of the street, and stopped just in front of their position. He hadn't been told what had actually happened to the car after the viceroy's murder, but he assumed it had simply been scrapped, as the prince's personal transport was just that. Meant for Prince Clovis's transportation _only._

"Get out, you who would dare to spoil His Highness' transport!" Jeremiah called out.

The large Britannian flag adorning the front of the transport suddenly ignited in flames and burned away almost instantly, to reveal a masked, cloaked figure standing atop the car like a giant bat. "I… am Zero!"

"_Wh-Who is this person? This man calling himself Zero who stands in front of the convoy! Could he be a terrorist? But if he is, what a foolish mistake!"_

Diethard stared hard at the figure now taking up every screen in the news van. "Zero… as in nothing?" he asked himself.

Jeremiah looked at the crowds on either side of the route, and saw they were all focusing on this new stranger who had captured their attention with just three simple words. "That's enough, Zero! Your little show is at an end!" He raised a pistol into the air and fired off a shot, giving the signal for the four VTOLs to release the Sutherlands they'd been carrying. The four knightmares dropped down around the prince's car, rifles raised to fire upon him.

However, two new knightmares, one primarily green and the other blue, rose straight up out of the ground without so much as breaking or disturbing the solid concrete. They were positioned on either side of the car in a way that put them between two knightmares each.

"You have your toys, Jeremiah, and I have mine!" Lelouch said mockingly.

"Those are—" Suzaku tried to warn only for the collar around his neck to deliver a painful electrical shock for his efforts.

The Margrave scowled as he took in the two new knightmares. They looked a lot more advanced than the Britannian Sutherlands, and they were a good deal larger as well. Though he'd been forced to eject early, Jeremiah had heard the rumors of the prototype Lancelot being defeated by a pair of advanced knightmares that left it buried in the ground. Were these the knightmares? No matter. Even if they _had_ defeated the Lancelot, which he still doubted, that was _one_ knightmare. He was confident these two would not fare so well against _eight_ knightmares.

"So you have two knightmares. Am I supposed to be impressed? Remove that mask Zero, or my men will fire!" Jeremiah ordered.

Lelouch raised his right hand up to the mask, appearing as if he was going to follow through with the order, until he sent it up into the air and snapped his fingers. The two halves of the transport fell apart to reveal a large circular canister contained in the back.

"What the…?" Jeremiah gasped.

"Lord Jeremiah, that's…!" Villetta called out from her knightmare at the rear of the convoy.

'_Yes, Jeremiah. As you never saw what was contained inside this canister, you assume it is a poison gas capsule.'_ Lelouch thought with an arrogant smile behind his mask.

"No! That's just—" Suzaku received another painful electric jolt through his throat for trying to speak once more.

"You… you bastard…" Jeremiah muttered furiously. _'He's taken every Britannian here hostage! Without them even knowing they're hostages!' _He leveled the handgun straight at Zero's mask.

"You intend to shoot me? I think you know the consequences should you miss." Lelouch taunted.

Jeremiah bit back a curse, as he knew Zero was right. If he missed, and accidently hit the canister, _he_ would be the one responsible for who knew how many Britannian deaths. He reluctantly lowered the gun and motioned for the knightmares to do so as well. "Very well. Your demands?"

"An exchange." Lelouch said simply. "This for Kururugi Suzaku."

"Absurd!" Jeremiah roared. "This man is charged with high treason for the murder of Prince Clovis! I can't hand him over!"

"No, you're mistaken, Jeremiah. He isn't the murderer. The one who killed Clovis… was me!" Lelouch declared dramatically, staring right into the camera a blonde Britannian camera man was focusing on his mask.

'_He's gone too far. We can't escape! It's hopeless now…' _Kallen thought, shaking in fear, her hands gripping onto the steering wheel like a lifeline.

"Think about it Jeremiah. For the life of one Eleven, you'll save the lives of countless precious Britannians. I don't think it's such a bad deal for you."

"He's mad!" Jeremiah snapped. "Disguising this truck as His Highness's, he mocks us! We'll make him pay!" He leveled the gun at Zero's mask once more, as the other Sutherlands around Zero readied their rifles, only for the blue and green knightmares to pull out a pair of MVS blades and fans respectively.

"Are you sure about this? You want the public to know about Orange?" Lelouch asked threateningly. He tapped his foot against the top of the car twice, which gave Kallen the signal to start driving forward slowly.

"If I die, it will all go public," Lelouch continued. "If you don't want that to happen…"

"What are you talking about? What are you saying?" Jeremiah asked in confusion as Zero steadily approached his knightmare.

Lelouch lowered his chin as soon as he was within range of Jeremiah, sliding open the hatch in front of his left eye and activated his Geass. "Release Kururugi Suzaku to me, and do everything in your power to aid our escape!"

Jeremiah, now with a glowing red ring surrounding his pupil nodded obediently. "Hmph! Understood. Give them the prisoner!"

"Lord Jeremiah, what did you jut say?!" Villetta asked in shock.

"Give them the prisoner! No one is to interfere!" Jeremiah repeated.

One of the Sutherlands standing in front of the green knightmare slid back until it was right beside Jeremiah's, the hatch opening up to reveal a uniformed Britannian man. "What are you thinking, making a deal at a time like this?!"

Jeremiah turned on the man sharply, his eyes blazing in fury. "Lord Kewell! This is an order!"

Left with no other choice, the armed guards on the prisoner transport unbound Kururugi Suzaku's arms and allowed him to walk over to Zero who was approaching on foot as well.

"Who the hell—" Suzaku started to ask, but had to stop as another painful jolt surged through his already injured throat.

"I didn't expect they'd allow you to speak," Lelouch said knowingly, examining the shock collar around Suzaku's neck. Kallen stepped out of the car and stepped up beside him, wearing the white chauffeur's outfit Clovis had required his driver to wear.

"If they get away we'll be disgraced!" Villetta cursed as she got back into her Sutherland.

"Zero, it's time." Kallen said.

"Then, we'll talk later," Lelouch said as he raised a detonator and slammed his thumb down on the trigger.

* * *

"Oi, where's he going?!" Tamaki angrily asked as the masked figure started running out of the warehouse towards the open construction area near the back.

Ohgi narrowed his eyes, knowing that their escape was about to begin, but didn't move to follow the masked man. For one thing, he was running extremely fast. And Ohgi figured he'd see what would happen to Zero for himself on TV anyways.

* * *

The gas canister instantly started releasing clouds of dark red smoke into the streets, sending the people alongside the street running and screaming in fear.

"Tch, cowardly Elevens!" Villetta slid back into her Sutherland and raised her rifle to fire on Zero, only for both of her knightmare's hands to be cleanly sliced off by the fan wielding green knightmare. Before she could react, the green knightmare then sent the fans flying to cut her Sutherland's legs off, dropping the now immobile and defenseless knightmare to the ground.

Seizan quickly followed Shinryoku's actions, disarming and crippling the remaining three enemy Sutherlands around him, but leaving them still mostly intact on the ground. They didn't want to cause any explosions that might catch escaping civilians.

Kewell, seeing the quick defeat of Villetta, brought his own rifle to bear, and managed to fire off a few rounds towards the blue knightmare, only for them to be deflected or cut in half by the twin MVS blades it wielded. "I-Impossible!" He was then dropped to one leg, as the left landspinner, and subsequently the leg it was attached to, were shot apart by Jeremiah.

"Lord Kewell! Will you follow my orders or not?!" Jeremiah asked his fellow purist faction member in outrage. "Any further actions will result in punishment! Is this clear?! I'll say this to all units! Let them go at all costs!"

Seizan and Shinryoku quickly regrouped around Zero, Suzaku and Kallen, the three of who had their hands gripping onto the legs of one of the knightmares, though Lelouch had to force Suzaku to place his hand there.

Right before the eyes of all who were watching, the entire group was surrounded by a large cloud of smoke. Kewell chose to disobey Jeremiah's orders, and fired blindly into the smoke. When it cleared, it revealed not a trace of the knightmares, Kururugi Suzaku or Zero. They had all just vanished into thin air.

* * *

Naruto's kage bunshin looked up at the two towering knightmares that he'd just summoned into the much more spacious warehouse just past the construction area. While the smoke was still obscuring him from view, he dispersed himself. The real Naruto would be accompanying Lelouch to his private talk with Suzaku anyways.

Seizan and Shinryoku both shut down, as their pilots climbed down and stood beside Lelouch, still in his Zero persona. "Evacuation was successful, Zero. Just as you predicted."

"Naturally," Lelouch remarked confidently. "Kallen, would you mind heading back to your friends? Suzaku and I need to discuss things privately."

Kallen looked as if she were about to protest, but nodded and left the four alone to their private discussion. She had wanted to ask how Zero managed to teleport them clear across the city from the middle of a hot zone, but somehow she knew she wouldn't get the answer.

* * *

"I really didn't think they'd manage to save him," Kento remarked, in amazement.

"I call bullshit!" Tamaki exclaimed. "How often would a bluff like that work anyways? And he would have died if those fancy knightmares weren't there to help him!"

"He could have done it without the knightmares, you know?" Kallen said, as she walked up to the group. "I think he only brought them to show them off. To prove that he has resources that, not only help him fight on even ground with Britannia, but _surpass _them in combat."

"It is the kind of demonstration that would promote a lot of confidence in him." Toru admitted with a small smile. "A figure the people can bet their hopes on."

"He did exactly what he said he would," Ohgi said. "Who else but him could have pulled that off? Even the Japan Liberation Front couldn't do that. Or at least, we couldn't have done it. We all thought war with the Britannians was impossible. But maybe, with them, it's possible."

* * *

"Looks like they treated you roughly," Lelouch remarked, looking over the injuries he could see just on Suzaku's face alone. "Now you really know what they're like, Private Kururugi. Britannia is rotten. If you want to change the world, then join me!"

Suzaku glared at Zero, who was standing across from him, flanked by the two knightmare pilots who had bested him. "Did you… Is it true that you killed Prince Clovis?"

"This is war," Lelouch stated bluntly. "It's natural to kill an enemy commander."

Suzaku frowned, but reluctantly conceded that point to Zero. "What about the poison gas? And taking all those civilians hostage?!"

"Just a bluff I used for the exchange." Lelouch said dismissively. "As a result, nobody was killed."

The ends justify the means. That's what Zero was telling him. He could not accept that kind of thinking. "The results? I see… that's all that matters to you."

Lelouch extended out his right hand to Suzaku. "Join me. The Britannia you serve is a worthless nation."

"Maybe that's true. However… I can change it into a worthwhile nation! From within Britannia!" Suzaku declared.

'_Change it?'_ Lelouch thought, as he contemplated Suzaku's goal.

"Because I think the ends are just as worthless if the means to them are wrong!" Suzaku stated as he turned around and started walking towards the warehouse exit.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Lelouch demanded.

"My court martial begins in an hour." Suzaku answered.

"A-Are you stupid?!" Lelouch shouted, clenching his fist in rage. "That trial is set up just to find you guilty! The prosecution, the judge, the defense…!"

"Even so, those are the rules. If I don't go, they'll begin oppressing Elevens and honorary Britannians." Suzaku said, as he stopped walking.

"More than normal, you mean?" Naruto asked rhetorically, finally speaking up. He couldn't stay silent any longer at this boy's idiocy and naivety. It was as if he wanted to pretend everything that was wrong and unfair in the world didn't exist. Such thinking would get, not only himself, but others around him killed. Naruto knew better. You had to acknowledge that the world was filled with cruelty, unfairness, and even death.

"Yes. Things will only get worse for them." Suzaku confirmed. "If I go back, it might help sway things for the better."

Naruto shook his head in exasperation, but refused to say anything more on the matter. Lelouch on the other hand, had no such compunctions.

"But you'll die!"

"I don't care." Suzaku turned around to glance at them. "I want to bring you in, but if I tried now, you'd just have me killed. If I'm going to die, I want it to be for the sake of everyone. Still… thank you. For saving my life." With that said, Suzaku walked straight out of the warehouse, back towards the courthouse to be judged.

Lelouch sighed and glanced over at Naruto. "Is it possible? To change Britannia from something despicable to something decent?"

Naruto remained silent for a few moments before answering. "Let me put it this way. Some of my greatest friends, were once dangerous enemies who tried to kill me. I learned about them, understood them, and accepted them. Many of them had felt a pain that I too felt before. I changed them. But… I also acknowledge there are enemies beyond redemption. Enemies that are so horrible, they must be eliminated with extreme prejudice."

"And which is Britannia?" Lelouch asked curiously, genuinely interested in the answer.

"It doesn't matter. Either way, they'll need to be defeated."

* * *

There. Chapter 4. My suckiest chapter to date in this story.

Italics with quotes are used for voices where the person is not currently present, if anyone was confused by that.

As always, read and review, and inform me of spelling or grammar mistakes.


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